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RANDOM 
RECOLLECTIONS 



RANDOM 
RECOLLECTIONS 



BY 

BEVERLEY B. M UN FORD 



FORSITAN ET HAEC OLIM 
MEMINISSK JDVABIT 



PRIVATELY PRINTED 
1905 







Harvard Univ. Lib. 

MAY X 5 1941 



^ 



TO 

MARY R. SANFORD 

AT WHOSE HOSPITABLE HOME IN OLD BENNINGTON, VERMONT, 

MANY OF THESE PAGES WERE WRITTEN, THIS LITTLE 

VOLUME IS DEDICATED AS A MARK OF MY 

FRIENDSHIP AND ESTEEM 



At the suggestion of my wife, I have noted down the 
following reminiscences, thinking with her that they 
might prove of interest to our children. I have not 
attempted to portray the more important events of my 
life, nor to frankly recount its sacred joys and sorrows. 
These mental excursions have awaken£d many pleas- 
ant memories, and if the incidents and stories I have 
recorded shall serve to brighten the present of my chil- 
dren and friends, my object will have been accomplished. 
Richmond, Va., 1905. 



Random Recollections 




Random Recollections 



v» 



CHAPTER I 
My Earliest Days 

WAS bom on the 10th day of Septem- 
ber, 1856, in the old red brick house 
which formerly stood on the northeast 
corner of Fifth and Canal Streets, in 
the City of Richmond. The house was 
built or bought by my paternal grandfather, Wil- 
liam Munford, near the close of the eighteenth 
century, on his removal to Richmond from his coun- 
try place " Richlands," in the County of Mecklen- 




4 Random Recollections 

burg. The location is not at this time fashionable, 
nor especially desirable as a place of residence, but at 
that time Fifth Street was one of the grand avenues 
of the then somewhat new town, while the high hill on 
which the house stood, overlooking the James River, 
with its falls and picturesque islands, made the place 
an ideal one for a comfortable home. The old house 
is now gone and the hill itself has been levelled down 
to conform to the new grade of the near-by streets. 
In after years, whilst still a small boy, I visited my 
grandmother there, and from that sojourn I retain 
many memories of the place. I recall the long flights 
of steps leading from the street to the yard and thence 
into the porch, and the trial which it was to my short 
legs to make the ascent. I recall the great cherry- 
tree which stood in the midst of the garden — verily, a 
delightful sight to my eyes and heart — only darkened 
by a forbidding row of beehives which my grandmother 
with provident care had arranged around it. I re- 
member the cigar-tree, as the children called it, be- 
cause its pods resembled real cigars, and the great 
pleasure afforded us as with mock seriousness we puff^ed 
the pretended weeds. I remember, too, the little base- 
ment-room where, under the gentle guidance of my 



My Earliest Days 



aunt, I learned my first lesson, and was initiated into 
the mysteries of book, atlas and slate. 

In December, 1856, my father removed to Williams- 
burg. It was the winter of the "great snow," and I 
always associated in my boyish mind the trip and the 
storm, though I, of course, had no remembrance of 
either. In the same way I also linked the day of my 
birth, the 10th of September, with the battle of Lake 
Erie, though the former occurred nearly a half century 
later than Commodore Perry's famous victory. 

The new home to which my people went was in many 
respects most attractive. Williamsburg had the charm 
which comes with long years of peace, culture and a 
reasonable amount of this world's goods. For nearly 
a century it was the seat of the colonial government, 
with its viceregal palace and court. Here, and in the 
adjacent country of which it was the centre, settled 
the Cavaliers who, faithful to Church and King, fled 
from Cromwell and his parliaments. Its culture and 
characteristics were English. In the idiom of their 
speech, in the books which they read, in the customs 
which they followed, these newcomers on the James 
but kept alive the ways and manners of the Father- 
land. Here was Wilham and Mary College, the child 



6 Random Recollections 

of England's King and Queen, which reflected the light 
caught by its masters and teachers from Oxford and 
Cambridge. In the old crucifomi church of Bruton 
parish the liturgy of the home establishment might be 
heard on Sundays and on all feast days. In the House 
of Burgesses, at the eastern end of Duke of Gloucester 
Street, sat the colonial assembly, which faintly repro- 
duced the notable gatherings which met in the great 
hall beneath the towers of Westminster. In the vice- 
regal palace banquets and festivities were held, which 
in some small degree recalled the glories of Whitehall 
and St. James. 

The Revolution wrought many changes in the old 
colonial town. The governor and his court were gone. 
The great square pew, decorated with the royal arms, 
was no longer seen in the parish church. The palace 
was in ruins and the seat of government had been 
moved to Richmond. Still, despite these and other 
changes, the place and people remained verj'^ much as 
of old. 

The historic interest, which had always invested the 
city, had been enhanced by the happenings of the rev- 
olutionary period. Here Patrick Henry, by his reso- 
lutions and speech on the Stamp Act, had uttered a 



My Earliest Days 



bold defiance against British tyranny. In the Apollo 
Hall of the Raleigh Tavern, where Jefferson tells us 
he had, while a student, so often danced with his sweet 
" Belinda," the leaders of the Revolution, Richard 
Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, and others of kindred 
spirit, had met nightly for conference. In the House 
of Burgesses had been enacted the series of measures 
which fairly launched the Revolution: first, the call 
for the Continental Congress ; then the Virginia Dec- 
laration of Independence; then her appeal to Congress 
to adopt a resolution of similar import for all the 
colonies, which finally brought forth the great Declara- 
tion of July 4th, 1776. As it witnessed the opening 
scenes of the Revolution, so, too, here and at York- 
town, a few miles distant, were fought the battles 
which brought final victory to the American arms. 

It was a place for a peaceful if not a strenuous life. 
No factory, furnace, nor business enterprise of any 
description, except a few stores, was to be found within 
its limits. Portions of its broad streets and all of its 
Plazas — the latter most appropriately called " Greens " 
— were generally overgrown with grass. Its popula- 
tion of some fifteen hundred souls was well provided 
with this world's goods. The plantations of the well- 



8 Random Recollections 

to-do, situated on the James and York rivers, yielded, 
besides great crops, the wild-fowl, oysters, fish and 
venison, for which the section is so noted. In the 
mysteries of cooking and serving these viands, the 
Tide- water ^^irginians displayed, with pride, the great- 
est skill and interest. Their cellars were well stocked 
with Madeira, and the proper decoction of a mint -julep 
oi a sherry-cobbler was the accomplishment of every 
gentleman. 

Christmas was a season of great rejoicing, at which 
time homecomings and social gatherings everywhere 
abounded, amid a bewildering profusion of egg-nog, 
mince-pies and plum-puddings. At all times their 
homes were the abode of a most generous hospitality. 
The graces of conversation were cultivated and appre- 
ciated — the personnel of dinner-parties and other social 
gatherings stimulating and exemplifying these gifts. 
And so these people pursued the even tenor of their 
ways, paying little heed to the great Avorld which lay 
beyond the circle of their environment. They met the 
duties and problems of life in an easy-going fashion, 
just as their fathers had done for years before; and, 
like their fathers, they brightened their days 



My Earliest Days 9 

with the joys of hospitality and good cheer and ex- 
hilarating sports by flood and field. 

Since the times of which I write, even greater 
changes have been wrought in the homes and lives of 
these people. The Civil War worked a political, social 
and industrial revolution, but still one may trace in 
the Williamsburg of to-day some fragrant reminders 
of the picturesque days of the long ago. 

My father had purchased Tazewell Hall — an ancient 
house, as we count in America. It was formerly the 
home of Edmund Randolph, distinguished in the annals 
of the Union as the author of the most noted plan for 
the Federal Constitution, and as the Attorney-General 
of the United States in Washington's first cabinet. It 
was an interesting house, spacious and well constructed. 
I recall the great hall, from which the place doubtless 
took its name, the wainscoting of the lower rooms 
reaching to the ceilings, the heavy walnut doors, with 
great brass locks upon them, the glass chandeliers and 
the marble mantelpieces — the latter displaying figures 
strangely resembling different animals, deciphering 
which, with my father's assistance, was one of the de- 
lights of my boyhood days. 



10 Random Recollections 

Mr. Watson, in his recent book, " The Life and 
Times of Thomas Jefferson," makes the following al- 
lusions to the old house: 

" Tazewell Hall, sitting on its green terrace at 
Williamsburg, was a fair specimen of the old- 
fashioned home in Virginia, — the house of scholarly, 
hospitable John Randolph, Royal Attorney-General 
of the Colony during the time of Lord Dunmore. 

" This was one of the centers of fashionable life. 
Crown officers were at ease here ; and whatever lord 
or lady from Mother Country happened to visit 
Williamsburg was sure to be entertained at Taze- 
well HaU. 

" Here also were seen in familiar social inter- 
course with the Randolphs and with each other, such 
men as Washington, Page, Lee, Nelson, Wj'the, 
Pendleton, Harrison, Tucker, and Jefferson. Many 
a time the large bam-like, but most comfortable 
old mansion, was filled with music as the King's at- 
torney bent lovingly over the celebrated Cremona 
violin and played a duet with the freckled-faced 
lord of Monticello. Man}^ a time Lord Dunmore, 
guiltless as yet of burning Virginia's towns, and 
attempts at negro insurrections, chatted contentedly^ 
here with councillors, lawyers, farmers and Murray 
relatives from Scotland. Through these large 



My Earliest Days 11 

I'ooms sounded footsteps which jet echo in the cor- 
ridors of time ; within them were heard voices which 
history shall ever hear." 

Back from the house, which was situated in the 
suburbs of the city, stretched the gardens, orchards, 
meadows, streams, fields and forests of the place, con- 
stituting, as I afterwards found, a charmed region of 
unfailing joy and interest to my boyish heart. Here 
we brought our Household Gods, and here, with no 
cloud upon the sky, we settled down to the peaceful 
joys of a new home in an old land. 

I cannot recall any incidents of interest which 
marked the first four years of my life. My mother's 
gentle care, my father and his riding horse, a Christ- 
mas tree, my toys, — these are some pictures of those 
days. From the confusion of memories there appears 
first in distinct form the scenes and happenings at the 
beginning of the Civil War. I remember the march- 
ing of soldiers and the beating of drums, and most of 
all, my father's good-by, when he set out for the army. 
My mother was left with my younger brother, a baby 
in arms, and myself, then five years of age. Of course, 
there were one or moi'c of the ever-devoted servants. 



12 Random Recollections 

whose faithfulness to their people furnish one of the 
brightest touches to the dark picture of those trying 
times. Events, the importance and sequence of which 
made no impression upon my mind, followed in quick 
succession. The battle of Williamsburg brought terror 
to my mother and her little household, with the roar of 
cannon, the marching of armies, and the confusion and 
destruction which followed in their wake. Then I re- 
call McClellan's army, which for days streamed through 
the main street of Williamsburg, marching on to the 
great battles to be fought before the gates of Rich- 
mond. 

Despite the defeat of McClellan, Williamsburg re- 
mained from this time on within the Federal lines, and 
so — doubtless because of her unprotected situation and 
her desire to be where she might sometimes see or hear 
from my father — my mother obtained the necessary 
passport and set out for Richmond. Tazewell Hall 
was left with such of the servants as decided to remain. 
It must have been a trying moment to my mother as 
she turned her back upon her home. The college 
buildings had been burned, many of the residences of 
her neighbors had been taken possession of by soldiers 
or by negroes, the churches were all hospitals crowded 



My Earliest Days 13 

with wounded soldiers, and a large body of troops occu- 
pied the orchard in the rear of Tazewell Hall. Though 
they burned the fences and outhouses, yet it is good 
to know that the home was left unharmed. 

At Richmond we spent some time at my grand- 
mother's, in the high red brick house where I was born. 

From Richmond my mother and her little ones went 
on to the home of her brother, Mr. Peter Copland, in 
the County of Botetourt. Of this trip I have few 
recollections. I recall an experience upon the canal 
boat, by which means most of the journey was made. 
At one of the locks I embraced the opportunity to step 
ashore. A few minutes later the boat left me and was 
proceeding up stream with all the wild celerity charac- 
teristic of that means of locomotion. My wails, the 
efforts of men ashore and people aboard to get me 
back upon the boat, have left their impress upon my 
mind. 

My uncle's home was at the extreme upper end of 
the valley of Virginia, a region justly celebrated not 
only for its fertility and beauty of scenery, but for 
the character of its people, and the many interesting 
historical events with which the section is associated. 
It was upon this fair valley that Governor Spotswood 



14 Random Recollections 

and his gallant comrades, known in history as the 
" Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," looked, as they 
stood for the first time on the top of the Blue Ridge 
after their long and hazardous ride from the Lowlands 
of Tide-water Virginia. Here the sturdy Scotch-Irish, 
Virginia Puritans, settled, and joined in the great work 
of driving out the Indians, clearing the forests, and 
founding a commonwealth far away from the annoying 
association of Prelacy and Cavaliers. From its people 
in later years was to go out that great military genius, 
Stonewall Jackson, who, with true Cromwellian charac- 
teristics, prayed as he fought, and announced his vic- 
tories in the now well-known words, " God has blessed 
our arms with victory to-day." 

The lower end of the valley along the banks of the 
Shenandoah, whose Indian name, signifying " The 
Daughter of the Stars," well typifies its beauty, was 
the scene of Jackson's marvelous campaigns and of 
Sheridan's famous ride, wliich latter has been so oft 
celebrated by brush and pen. 

My uncle's home proved a very attractive place for 
a six-year-old boy. My recollection is still frag- 
mentary, but I recall many of the simple joys which 
form part of a boy's life upon a Virginia farm. I dis- 



My Earliest Days 15 

tinctly remember the little negro boys who were my 
boon companions. On Sundays, my uncle being a strict 
Presbyterian, I was denied the pleasure of their society, 
being only permitted to watch them through the paling 
fence which surrounded the home, while they roamed 
with joy and freedom over the whole farm. Despite 
my 3'outh this visit left an indelible impress upon my 
mind, because it was there that my mother died. 

My impressions of my mother consist of faint mem- 
ories, blended with traditions, and the accounts of 
those who knew her. The composite picture is that 
of a woman of gentle, yet dignified presence; a face 
of rare sweetness and refinement, — gray eyes and 
chestnut hair. Sympathetic and capable, with a large 
endowment of common sense; deeply religious, liv- 
ing in conscious nearness to the unseen. From the 
far-away past comes the subtile sense of her tender 
care, and the sweet picture of this sainted woman, 
strong in faith and love, offering up prayers for 
her boys. 

From Boutetourt my little brother and I were carried 
in the fall of 1863 — I cannot recall how or by whom — 
to Richmond. Here my father, no longer in the army 
but holding some official place with the Confederate 



1 6 Random Recollections 

Government, sought to establish a home and gather 
around him all his children. 

My experiences and trials in the capital of the Con- 
federacy during the last eighteen months of the war 
will form the recitals of the next chapter. 





CHAPTER II 

JVar Times in Richmond 

HE most distinct impression left upon 
my mind of this period — the last eigh- 
teen months of the war — is that of cold 
and hunger. There were certainly many 
days of light and sunshine, and doubt- 
less many times when I had enough and to spare, 
but these occasions have nearly all been effaced 
by the other and more distinct memory. As is well 
known, all the ports of the Confederacy were blockaded 
at the very commencement of the war, and so continued 
until its close. No supplies, therefore, could be 
brought in from without, while the markets abroad for 
the crops of cotton and tobacco, which constituted the 
South's great source of wealth, were also closed. The 
large majority of the men were with the armies, and 

17 



18 Random Recollections 

thus few were left to till the fields. These causes, to- 
gether with the incessant fighting during the previous 
two years and the enormous consumption and destruc- 
tion of all food products, left the South — and especially 
Virginia and Richmond — in the fall of 1863, almost 
destitute. Some relief was found in the many make- 
shifts and substitutes adopted by the people. Thus 
coffee was made from rye, corn, or potatoes ; sorghum 
took the place of sugar, and gravies figured as a sub- 
stitute for butter. Even the staples of life — bread and 
meat — were very scarce, or so advanced in price that 
they were most difficult to obtain. Nearly every patri- 
otic citizen — my father included — had sold everything 
saleable and loaned the proceeds to the Confederate 
Government, receiving the bonds of the latter, payable 
ten years after the acknowledgment of its independence 
by the United States. And so to the scarcity of pro- 
visions was added that of money. I cannot now recall 
exactly what we lived on, or, rather, what was meted 
out to me — a small boy. Com bread furnished, as it 
did to our forefathers, the principal stay of life. 
Equally dear and difficult to obtain were coal and wood ; 
so in our home one fire was the rallying point around 
which the whole family assembled. I remember a 



War Times in Richmond 19 

friendly blacksmith shop which I frequented, where, 
seated on a box near the forge, I enjoyed the warmth 
of the fire, watched the sparks from the anvil, and 
listened to the news as detailed by the smith and his 
gossiping friends. Almost every delicacy obtainable 
was eagerly sought for the sick and wounded soldiers 
that filled the great hospitals in and near the city. I 
remember walking with one of my sisters all the way 
to Chimborazo Hospital to carry a roasted apple to a 
sick soldier. This hospital consisted of groups of 
frame-buildings, sheds, and tents, in which were 
crowded thousands of sick and wounded soldiers. Oak- 
wood Cemetery near by, with its serried ranks of over 
fourteen thousand graves, is a solemn and sad reminder 
of the times and its terrors. 

But despite the want and suffering, the cheer and 
spirit of the people were well exemplified in the not in- 
frequent social gatherings. The chance possession of 
a few " good things," as they were called, meant a 
party of some sort, large or small. I remember one 
entertainment at our home to which a great many 
people were invited, including many prominent soldiers, 
which had its inception in the sudden acquisition of a 
gallon of molasses. Molasses-cake and buttermilk, or 



20 Random Recollections 

lemonade, furnished the refreshments, and men and 
women laughed and danced as if death and famine 
were unknown. I remember an occasion when all the 
ingredients of a cake were in hand, except butter, and 
so following the unfortunate suggestion of some one 
who recommended mutton suet instead, a cake was 
made. That mutton suet gave the cake a flavor which 
rendered it impossible even to the voracious appetite of 
a hungry boy of eight years of age. The loss of the 
sugar, eggs, flour, etc., which went into that cake, was 
to me a source of great and lasting sorrow. 

Another characteristic of the times which I recall was 
the clothing worn by the people. Nearly all the 
women were in mourning, as death had entered almost 
every home. Old clothes long out of fashion, ancient 
coats, dresses made out of curtains, and such like 
materials, were brought into requisition. I cannot re- 
call any particular article of my make-up, except a 
pair of shoes made at the penitentiary and a cavalry 
soldier's cap — the latter many sizes too large. Whether 
my cap fell from the head of some unfortunate soldier 
killed in battle, or was presented me by some returning 
brave, or had been worn by my father when he filled the 
role of Major, I never knew. I only know I presented 



War Times in Richmond 21 

— a small boy of eight — a most grotesque figure, ar- 
rayed in this great cap, which turned over when I 
walked, but stood up like a beaver when I ran. I 
learned afterwards that my appearance was a source 
of great mortification to my sisters, when on Sundays, 
walking home from St. Paul's church with their soldier 
beaux, I would appear upon the scene and run up and 
down along the sidewalk arrayed in my wonderful cap, 
penitentiary shoes and much-worn clothes. 

Despite all these conditions there were incidents which 
afforded me great pleasure, and which present a 
brighter picture of the period. Thus I was fortunate 
enough upon one occasion to find five dollars of Con- 
federate money in a rubbish pile. After much con- 
sideration, but without conference with any one, I in- 
vested the whole sum in a cake. At another time, with 
a dollar presented by a gentleman for carrying his goat 
home, I made a large purchase of chestnuts. A beau 
of one of my sisters, doubtless seeking her favor by 
winning my heart, offered to carry me to the theatre 
to see the play of " East Lynne." The house was so 
crowded that we could not get in, but I felt more than 
compensated by being taken to a near-by confectionery, 
where, amid the splendors of light and warmth, I was 



22 Rando7n Recollections 

given cake and ice-cream. The wedding, too, of my 
cousin, Miss Rutherfoord, furnished another occasion 
when I had a ghmpse of brighter scenes. This wed- 
ding, which seems to have been notable because of 
the " good tilings " which abounded, has been described 
by the facile pen of Mr. John S. Wise in liis recent 
book, " The End of an Era." I accompanied my 
sister to the house, and was shown through the rooms, 
seeing the decorations and, above all, the supper-table. 
The moment was all too brief, and as the front door 
closed, shutting me out from light and music and sup- 
per, I lingered, like some ragged Peri, at the gates of 
that veritable paradise. 

Among other happenings of the times I remember 
the military funerals. These occasions, especially 
when some general or popular hero was buried, were 
notable to me because of the brass bands, the marching 
legions, and the large concourse of people. I would 
follow as best I could the processions, seeming never 
to tire so long as I could hear the measured tramp of 
the soldiers and the strains of martial music. 

I cannot now recall that I had at the time any im- 
pression that the existing order of things was unusual, 
or that my lot was peculiarly hard. Just such con- 



War Times in Richmond 23 

ditions had existed from the dawn of my memory, and 
my lot seemed to be only that of other little boys of 
my age and station. 

I realized, however, on the fateful Sunday of April, 
1865, that some extraordinary event was about to 
happen. What it meant or why it should occur, I 
could not, of course, understand. Its direful import, 
however, became more manifest when, on the following 
day, I witnessed the scenes incident to the evacuation 
of Richmond. The great fire enveloping the whole busi- 
ness portion of the city in its folds, the many explosions 
which resulted from the flames, the sight of squads of 
convicts from the penitentiary — some one having 
opened the doors of that institution — the incoming of 
thousands of blue-coated federal troops, the crowds of 
bewildered people hurrying through the streets, — all 
combined to form a picture which I shall never forget, 
and which gradually made known to me the momentous 
fact that the war was over. 

The month of May found us en route to Williams- 
burg, making the journey by steamboat down the 
James River to Grove Wharf, some five miles from the 
latter city. We spent the night in the old Burwell 
homestead at the Grove, and went on next morning to 



24 Rando?7i Recollections 

Williamsburg. Tazewell Hall, its yards, gardens, and 
apple-orchard all wreathed in green and blossoms, 
presented a welcome sight to the eyes of these weary 
home-comers. My boyish heart leaped at the possi- 
bilities for pleasure which I saw everywhere around me 
— anticipations which were destined to be most plea- 
santly realized. 





CHAPTER III 

School Days at Tazewell Hall 

CANNOT attempt any description of 
the changes in WiUiamsburg wrought by 
the war, the poverty of the people, nor 
the pohtical and industrial confusion 
which existed. Of civil government 
there was none. The military authorities held sway, 
and, indeed, continued their rule until Virginia was 
formally readmitted into the Union in 1870. A 
strange commentary it seemed upon the theory so 
resolutely upheld by Mr. Lincoln that Virginia had 
no power to secede from the Union, and so to enforce 
its laws within her borders he had the right to marshal 
armies and send them against her people. But Mr. 
Lincoln was dead and " another king reigned in Egypt 
which knew not Joseph." The political and industrial 

25 



26 Random Recollections 

conditions, however, did not seriously disturb me — a 
boj of nine years. M}' mind and heart were occupied 
by the concerns and happenings of my little life, and 
of such I will proceed to give some account. 

Soon after our return my education, which had suf- 
fered in consequence of the troublous times, was taken 
in hand, with the result that the task of teaching me 
was assumed by my father and three sisters. That I 
did not make much headway with such a superabun- 
dance of teachers is not surprising. I remember the 
rather unique way my father attempted to teach me to 
read, which, if not according to the methods of modern 
pedagogics, was at least very agreeable. After listen- 
ing with rather ill-concerned impatience while I read 
with many halts and failures my appointed lesson, he 
would take the book himself, read off the lesson, and 
then to impress me with the necessity for facility and 
expression would read copious extracts from his favor- 
ite poets. This example of his method in teaching is 
in keeping with the tradition extant in the family — that 
during the war, having been sent to an auction to buy 
furniture of pressing need for the home, he returned 
without any furniture, but overjoyed at a bust of 
Pallas which he had purchased. I recall, too, that as a 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 27 

part of my daily exercise I was required to learn the 
Church Catechism — a proceeding not at all to my 
liking. The great hall at home will always be associ- 
ated in my mind with my efforts to master " The De- 
sire," and " My Duty to my Neighbor," and of the way 
in which I would roll back and forth on the floor be- 
tween the doors, ofttimes suffused in a flood of tears. 
Later I was sent to the Grammar School connected with 
William and Mary College, where my trials and tri- 
umphs were those of the ordinary boy. A feature of 
this school, which I have occasion to remember, was the 
custom of the president of the college to appear on al- 
ternate Fridays, when the scholars were expected to 
declaim or read original compositions. Though really 
one of the kindest of men, he was held in profound awe 
by the scholars — myself included. He was always ac- 
companied by a fierce bull-terrier named John Brown, 
and the presence of those two was sufficient to drive 
almost every idea from a boy's head. I recall a 
companion who had prepared a composition upon 
birds, but who, after many incoherent mutterings, was 
only able to aver that the " woodpecker has a red 
head and the eagle soars very high." A compara- 
tive freedom from stage-fright in after years I 



28 Random Recollections 

attributed in no small degree to my experience on those 
occasions. 

Of course, I joined in all the games and sports com- 
mon to boys of my age and station — fishing and bath- 
ing in summer, skating in winter, marbles, tops, bandy, 
baseball, football, cat, high anthony, foot-and-a-half, 
leap-frog, and hop-scotch. My joy in all these sports, 
however, was somewhat marred by the burden which 
lay upon me of driving home every evening the cows 
for milking. 

Of the cleverness of a cow on a hot summer after- 
noon to immure herself in bushes so as to be incommodo 
to small boys, as well as flies, there has as yet been no 
sufficient recognition by writers on natural history. 
From an experience which caused me many pangs I can 
bear eloquent testimony' to the subtlety of this ap- 
parently artless creature. My daily expeditions, how- 
ever, gave me an opportunity for proseeuting more 
successfully one of the greatest sports of my boyhood. 
I cannot tell just when I commenced setting hare-traps, 
but of the great pleasure which it afforded me I have 
the liveliest recollection. I well remember the first 
hare I ever caught, and how, bearing the trap in my 
arms, I ran home and, bursting into the various rooms of 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 29 

the sleeping family, announced with shouts of joy and 
pride my achievement. To succeed in this enterprise it is 
all-important to know where to set your traps. The 
trap must be set in a " hare path " or at a " gnaw " — 
the latter being a point in a fence where hares are 
accustomed to pass through, as evidenced by scratches 
and gnawed places upon the bottom rails. And so I 
turned my pilgrimages in search of cows to good ac- 
count, and located the places frequented by hares with 
an accuracy born of long and persistent searchings. 

There are few more delightful experiences in the 
life of a small boy than to slip out of bed a frosty 
morning and, meeting his partner by appointment, 
go off to visit the traps. All the world 's asleep. The 
feeling of loneliness, the subtle light of the early dawn, 
the indistinctness of objects half hid in the shadows, — 
all serve to stimulate interest and invest the expedition 
with an air of adventure. When nearing the trap al- 
ternate hopes and fears course through his mind. 
Hope is raised by seeing the trap down, only to be 
dashed to earth by finding it empty; while again the 
day is made glorious by finding the hare safe inside — 
this wild thing of the woods — his captive. Sometimes 
a still greater joy awaits him, when instead of a hare 



30 Random Recollections 

lu! finds an opossum. But to catch an opossum in a 
hare-trap is most unsportsmanlike, for the capture of 
that crafty quadruped is the sport of other and far 
more picturesque surroundings. 

As the wild boar and stag are in some countries 
the special game of royalty, so in Virginia the 'possum 
seems to have been designed for the negro. With his 
dog — half hound and half cur — and his sharp axe, he 
goes forth in the darkness to seek liis prey, like some 
knight to his tourney. Fortunate the boy who has the 
friendship of this Nimrod, and can join in the sport 
of following the dog as he tracks the 'possum to his 
tree or hollow. Captured, the game is borne home in 
triumph, where the joys of a miniature hog-killing, so 
dear to the heart of a negro and a boy, are reproduced 
in killing, and cleaning off his hairy coat. The next 
night the 'possum is served, banked in sweet potatoes 
and swimming in gravy, with ash-cake and buttermilk 
as the lesser attractions. 

Only second in interest to hunting the 'possum is the 
sport when the raccoon is the prey. Indeed, the negro 
finds unfailing delight in killing or capturing 'possums, 
'coons, rabbits, squirrels, weasels, minks, muskrats, wild- 
cats, and all that numerous company of four-footed 
creatures embraced in the catalogue of what he de- 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 31 

nominates " varmints," and against which he long ago 
declared unrelenting warfare. 

The queen feast of the year upon the farm was hog- 
killing time, in the joys of which I was a most appre- 
ciative participant. For Aveeks before the event the 
interest of all upon the place was aroused. Daily visits 
were made to the hog-pens, and learned discussions in- 
dulged apropos of the weight and qualities of their 
various inmates. Then upon the fateful morning, long 
before star or sun had heralded the approach of day, 
the great fires were lit and preparations completed for 
the slaughter. No boy could remain abed amid such 
scenes and happenings. Despite the repeated injunc- 
tion of the negroes to " make way !" " keep back !" I 
was in evidence at every stage of the proceedings, and 
never left until all the occupants of the pens were sus- 
pended head downwards from the great racks upon 
which it was the custom to hang them. As trophies 
of the occasion I would bear off' the pigtails, to be 
speedily devoured. As for the negroes, the fact that 
the great feast had come was to be seen in their shining 
faces, and general air of opulence and grease which 
plenty of chine, spare-ribs, jowls, souse, etc., etc., al- 
ways invested them. 

Among the pleasantest recollections of my childhood 



32 Random Recollections 

are these and other like associations with the colored 
servants, and the interest which I felt in all their habits 
of thought and modes of living. Before the glowing 
wood-fires on their hearthstones I would sit and listen 
to the conversations of the old " Uncles " and "Aunts," 
as I was taught to call them, while they recounted their 
religious experiences, their stores of superstition and 
folk-lore, or told weird stories of what they had seen 
and heard in the shadowy land of ghosts and " hants." 
I thus learned how they regarded what they called 
" white folks' religion " — a system, they averred, de- 
rived from books, while theirs came by direct revelation 
from on High to every soul which had successively ex- 
perienced the trials and triumphs of " conviction," 
" seeking " and " coming through." I remember the 
doleful countenances of the mourners while " under 
conviction " and during the sad days of " seeking " ; 
and then their joy at " coming through." On such 
occasions the neophyte would clasp the hand of some 
old brother, and recount in a sing-song monotone how, 
while in the lowlands of sorrow, the Lord had appeared 
and placed their feet upon the rock and showed 
them their names written in the Book of Life; the 
Father-Confessor meanwhile interspersing their recitals 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 33 

with such ejaculations as " Talk on, my sister! Don't 
be afeered. Proclaim aloud what the Lord has done 
for your soul." 

Among many the belief in sorcery was strong, and I 
have heard heart-stirring accounts of how people had 
been " tricked " or " fixed " by the wiles of conjurers, 
who would work their spells upon the unsuspecting. 
Mysterious ingredients in little bundles, placed under 
the door-sill or hung in bottles near the spring, were 
the outward signs of the agencies used by these sor- 
cerers ; while racking pains, lizards and other small ani- 
mals in the bodies of the victims, or sometimes death, 
were the manifestations of their power. Portents and 
signs were firmly believed in and acted on. The bay- 
ing of the watch-dog, the hooting of an owl, the cack- 
ling of the chickens at unusual hours of the early morn- 
ing, were harbingers of death or serious calamity. To 
plant potatoes or other like vegetables on the " dark of 
the moon " would result in a large growth of tops, 
but very small crops of fruit ; while the meat of hogs 
killed at a like time would all run away in gravy. 

Mr. Lecky in one of his works — his " History of 
European Morals," I believe — has very beautifully de- 
scribed what he terms " The Flight of the Fairies." 



34 Random Recollections 

He tells of the widespread belief in fairies which ex- 
isted for ages among certain classes — how every moun- 
tain gorge and lowland valley was peopled with these 
gentle little sprites. Belief in their existence was as 
real as the woodland scenes amongst which they dwelt. 
Silently and almost imperceptibly the faith faded and 
men awoke with surprise and regret to find that the 
fairies were gone. No such experience had come to 
the negroes of my childhood time. Their faith in the 
visits of shadowy forms and spirits from other realms 
was unshaken. Scarcely one could be found who had 
not seen ghosts — the mysterious frequenters of grave- 
yards and ancient dwellings. Still more well attested 
was the existence of " hants," as the negroes termed 
them, which were to be encountered at night in almost 
every deserted and gruesome place. These "hants " 
took the form of black cats of portentous mien and size, 
winged horses, men without heads, and other like for- 
bidding apparitions. I have listened to accounts of 
these strange specters until my heart would rise in my 
throat and I would tremble at the thought of being 
left alone in the dark. 

Apropos of my association with the servants I must 
not omit to mention two little colored boys, Billy and 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 35 

Dick by name, who were ofttimes among my playmates, 
and always welcome because of their unfailing willing- 
ness to serve as horses for my little wagon, privates in 
the ranks of my militia and burden-bearers in all my 
expeditions. Across the long gap of intervening years 
I recall with kindest recollections the picture of their 
bright faces and ragged forms. 

I have mentioned the pleasure which I found in 
catching hares and hunting 'possums, but of the far 
more inspiring sport of hunting with dog and gun the 
wealth of other game which fill the fields, marshes and 
forests of Tide-water Virginia, I had little experience. 
The bane of the war period — " hard times " — still pur- 
sued me. I never during my boyhood had money 
enough to buy a gun. Thus the education of the 
typical Virginia boy to learn to shoot, to ride and to 
tell the truth, was in my case as to the first item sadly 
neglected. 

But while I rarely enjoyed the royal sport of hunt- 
ing with dog and gun, yet I found constant delight 
in making expeditions into the woods on and adjacent 
to my father's farm. Everything about them appealed 
to some sense of joy and interest. Their mysterious 
depths of gloom and silence; their wealth of berries, 



36 Random Recollections 

grapes and nuts; and their wild denizens of beasts, 
birds and reptiles, — all served to invest them with un- 
failing attraction to my bo^dsh heart. They consti- 
tuted a charmed region where I could gratify all the 
emotions of quest and conquest. 

Closely associated with these forests were certain 
streams and ponds, and the opportunities for sport and 
pleasure which they afforded. Since the days of which 
I write I have visited many waters far-famed for their 
beauty, but Loch Katrine and the Lakes of Killarney 
pale before two placid sheets, rejoicing in the prosaic 
names of " Tutter's Neck " and " Durfey's Mill-pond," 
where I fished in summer and skated in winter. 

Of the delights of fishing I need not pause to speak. 
From the days of Izaak Walton down to Dr. Van 
Dyke the ancient art of angling has had not only its 
troops of devotees, but a brilliant array of champions 
to recount its glories. But charming as this sport con- 
fessedly is, these ponds took on for me their greatest 
charm when locked in winter's icy embrace — their 
smooth surfaces thronged with happy skaters. How 
novel and inspiring the scene ! The long winding pond 
a sheet of ice, the dark forests of pine and holly 
fringing its borders, the bright fires here and there 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 37 

along the shore, the gay company of skaters rhythmic 
with Hfe and motion, — all combined to form a picture 
as picturesque to the eye as the sport was stimulating 
to the heart. 

This, above all others, was the chance for a bashful 
boy to play the gallant to the girl of his choice. His 
strength and skill gave him a certain precedence, while 
the dangers of the sport afforded welcome opportuni- 
ties for shielding his gentle charge. With every sense 
alive to the joys of the moment, I would clasp the little 
hand at my side, and then off together " on the wings 
of the wind " to the enchanted land, the surest guides 
to which are Youth and Love. 

Of my many schemes for making money I have the 
liveliest recollections. A plan arranged after the most 
mature deliberation was to buy a hen, from the sale of 
whose eggs I was to buy a small pig ; then rear it to full 
size and from its sale, and the accumulated income 
from m}^ hen, purchase a condemned army-horse, price 
some twenty dollars, and, with the latter and my original 
hen and her progeny, set up a system of farming 
for myself on my father's place. This plan was gone 
over and over in my mind; the hours brightened 
with the hopes of glorious fruition. In its execu- 



te 



38 Random Recollections 

tion I progressed as far as the purchase of the hen 
and pig. 

To the rearing and fattening of that pig I devoted 
many months of my life. Everything I could find or 
beg, conducive to the help and health of a pig, I car- 
ried to his pen ; but from some cause he never prospered, 
and I at length sold him for a few cents more than the 
sum originally invested. Another source from which 
I derived revenue was by the sale of old bones, supple- 
mented occasionally with old iron, brass and rags. The 
great slaughter-houses and camps of the Federal 
troops, so long stationed on our own and the adjoining 
farms, furnished the source of supply. With my 
faithful allies, Billy and Dick, whose services were 
rendered much after the fashion of vassals to their 
lord, I scoured the country, and often the little caravan 
might be seen, myself in the lead, each member bearing 
a bag of bones upon his bent back, wending its way to 
the junk dealer. I remember the old dealer, and es- 
pecially the shot-bag in which he kept what seemed to 
me his great wealth. 

I do not remember now what particular use I made of 
the proceeds of these expeditions, except that upon one 
occasion I devoted my accumulations, in collaboration 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 39 

with a schoolmate, to giving a party. My fi'iend was 
to furnish the lemons, I the cake. Invitations to the 
party were sent out, the number of guests being limited 
to the amount of our resources; but, relying upon the 
probability that a certain percentage of those invited 
w ould not come, we increased our list accordingly. On 
the evening in question, my friend appeared bringing 
his lemons, not, however, the full number upon which 
we had relied. At the last moment my younger brother 
had been permitted to invite a few of his small friends, 
in return for a much-needed moneyed contribution. 
This sum was invested in sugar-kisses, the candy of 
which would prove a welcome addition to our repast, 
and the love-verses a source of great assistance in in- 
cipient love-affairs, as well as an aid to conversation. 
Our guests soon began to arrive, and with the appear- 
ance of each bo}'^ or girl upon whose absence we had 
counted, the fears and embarrassment of myself and 
friend steadily increased. At last every guest invited 
was present, and the conviction forced itself upon our 
minds that there would be a serious shortage in the 
lemonade. A hurried conference resulted in the stern 
resolve to drink no lemonade ourselves and to request a 
like course on the part of our more intimate boy-friends. 



40 Random Recollections 

This momentary gleam of hope, however, was soon 
dashed to the ground by the arrival of a number of 
students, who, with an audacity characteristic of their 
kind, had come uninvited, though they explained they 
had only intended to drop in after supper and take 
part in the dance. My friend and I, however, realized 
that they were there in time for supper and would de- 
vour our substance as well as monopolize our favorite 
girls, for the latter were proverbial for their disposition 
to leave school-boys when students appeared on the 
scene. Here was a situation. The entertainment 
was at my home. I would feel the full force of the 
embarrassment occasioned by the premature consump- 
tion of all the lemonade, while thirsty boys and girls 
stood appealing. I was on the eve of beating a most 
ignominious retreat and refusing to lead the march 
to supper, when my friend glided to my side and dis- 
pelled every fear by whispering the reassuring words : 
" It 's all right. Let them drink. We '11 have lemon- 
ade enough, unless the well runs dry." 

I was always delighted when I received an invitation 
to a party. I never knew the time when I did not 
fancy myself in love with some little girl-acquaintance. 
Neither had reached the ae:e when visits were made or 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 41 

received, and so it was only at such gatherings that I 
had an opportunity of seeing the object of my affec- 
tions. I never ventured to avow my feehngs. Such a 
course would, doubtless, have involved us both in dire 
confusion. I relied upon the entranced expression of 
my face, or the warm clasp of my hand in the dance, to 
bear to her the gentle message. Like so many of my 
boyhood pleasures, these occasions, too, were not with- 
out their shadows. My Sunday or " company clothes," 
as they were called, were a source of great concern and 
no little mortification. They were generally made at 
home, and so possessed a style and set unknown to any 
fashion-plate, ancient or modem. Then in summer I 
went barefoot. No matter how our heart and feet 
may be attuned to the cadences of the dance, it is im- 
possible to gracefully tread its figures without some 
species of foot-gear other than that with which nature 
has provided us. Especially is this true when one's 
feet are disabled with stone-bruises, stump toes, and 
other like infirmities characteristic of a country bo3\ 
To my doleful suggestions that my appearance was not 
befitting these festive occasions, or conducive to my suc- 
cess as a beau, I was always met with the remark, doubt- 
less designed to be comforting : " Run along ; nobody 



42 Random Recollections 

will notice you. It 's all right if you are clean." No- 
body would notice me! Small comfort, indeed! To 
be noticed was the one great ambition nearest my heart- 
Then the suggestion, " If I was clean !" My hands in 
summer partook of the shade of russet brown which 
comes from cider-making, a pastime in which I often 
indulged. In the fall they acquired a dark mahogany 
color — stains from the hulls of new walnuts — while in 
winter the contents of my trouser pockets — tops, 
marbles, nails and lead bullets, especially the latter — 
gave them a gloss very much resembling stove-polish. 

One of the joys of my boyhood was music. Not that 
I had the advantages of any musical instruction, or 
ever heard grand opera, or a great musician, but simply 
that I loved harmonies ; whether the soft lullabies of 
some old colored mammy, the stirring chorus of a group 
of schoolboys or the solemn roll of the grand Te Deum. 

There were few more picturesque occasions, nor any 
which appealed more strongly to a boy's heart, than 
an old-time wheat harvest in Virginia. The field wav- 
ing in its wealth of golden grain ; the cradlers, binders 
and shockers with their glowing black faces, crowned 
here and there with white turbans or red bandanas ; the 
measured cadence of the swinging cradles, as strong 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 43 

arms bore them on through the f alHng grain ; the eager 
boys following on in search of partridge nests or to 
catch young rabbits ; the cheery call of the workers for 
" More water !" and above all the rich mellow notes of 
the negro voices as they sang the harvest songs, — all 
combined to make a scene most picturesque and inspir- 
ing. No feature of these long-looked-for and much- 
enjoyed occasions appealed so strongly to me as the 
singing, and time and again I would run along beside 
the leading cradler, urging him to start the song. 
Doubtless that sturdy Virginian, Cyrus McCormick, 
conferred a great boon upon humanity, and helped the 
march of progress when he invented his reaper; but he 
destroyed one of the most picturesque institutions of 
rural Virginia, and of every land where negro cradlers 
were accustomed, with so many incidents of joy and 
adventure, to reap the ripened grain. 

Another occasion well remembered for its music was 
the corn-shucking — totally different, however, in in- 
cidents and surroundings from those which character- 
ized the former scenes. The harvest music was ren- 
dered under a glowing summer sun by marching corps, 
urged on by the prowess of leaders and the inspiration 
of martial song. The workers at the corn-shucking 



44 Random Recollections 

sang under the soft light of the moon in the cool crisp 
air of October nights, seated in groups around the 
great com pile, the task of shucking which, must be 
accomplished before admission to the glories of the 
midnight meal. The music of the wheat harvest was 
martial and inspiring; that of the corn-shucking re- 
ligious and sympathetic. 

A custom in Williamsburg, which had come down 
unchanged from olden days, was that of serenading. 
Coteries of musicians, usually with violins and banjos, 
would set out soon after midnight upon their rounds. 
The personnel of the party was kept a secret, and in 
like manner they preferred that music should be the 
first intimation of their presence. It seemed to invest 
the compliment paid the fair one with an added in- 
terest, and to lend a touch of romance, to have her 
dreams first stirred by the strains of harps and voices 
which came mysteriously from some unknown source. 
I would hear the music of these strolling minstrels, and 
quickly leaving my bed, hie away and become a most 
appreciative, if not a bidden, member of the band. I 
kept so quiet, and showed such an appreciation both of 
the music and the spirit of the expeditions, that I was 
at first tolerated and then welcomed into quasi-member- 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 45 

ship. My great regret was my inability to perforin 
upon any instrument, but this difficulty was partially 
removed by my being appointed to play the triangle, a 
part as minor in place as the instrument is simple in 
technique and construction. There was a certain pride 
in my boyish heart at thus being breveted by these 
masters, and I later received additional recognition of 
my talent by being called to a position in the amateur 
brass band, which on occasions marched at the head of 
the volunteer company and dispensed music to the great 
delight of the small urchins and colored population of 
the town. 

As I look back, however, the music which I heard 
in the old church seems to awaken the sweetest memories 
and to strike notes in my heart which reverberate with 
the softest sound. Around the old sanctuary cluster 
many associations. I recall the Christmas season, and 
how the boys and girls joined in the week's work of 
dressing the church. Into the wreaths of running 
cedar and holly, the love and laughter of those happy 
hearts were woven. 

I will not attempt any description of the church. It 
stands to-day as it has stood for some two centuries, 
unchanged except as the English ivy, which covers its 



46 Random Recollections 

eastern walls, has become denser, and the names upon 
tombstones in its aisles and under the shadow of its 
walls have become less and less distinct. The font^ 
formerly in the Jamestown church and the one from 
which, according to tradition, Pocahontas was baptized,^ 
has a place in the chancel; the golden chalice and the 
paten presented by Queen Anne is used in the Holy 
Communion; the bell, justly celebrated for its silver 
tone, calls the people as of old to worship ; the services 
of prayer and praise stiU follow the usage and sym- 
pathies of the Fathers. All is redolent of the past and 
of a certain fixedness which seems to say, " The gates 
of change shall not prevail against it." The inscrip- 
tions upon the memorial tablets in its walls, as well as 
on the tombstones in its aisles and in the yard, many 
of them in Latin, not a few bearing heraldic devices, — 
recount the short annals of men and women wha 
bravely bore their parts in the life of the countryside. 
Occasionally they tell of men who figured in the great 
world beyond. Of this latter class is the tablet to Sir 
Daniel Parke. He bore the tidings of the great vic- 
tory at Blenheim to Queen Anne, Her Majesty, in 
recognition of his service, asked what favor she could 
confer. With a touch of gallantry and presumption 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 47 

Ik- ix'quested her picture, which so pleased the Queen 
that she presented him her miniature, set in diamonds, 
and made him a knight. 

As before stated, I found great pleasure in the music 
heard in this old church. On Sundays I would watch 
the arrival of the various members of the choir, always 
hopeful that there would be a full attendance. I had 
little fancy for soprano solos, but delighted in a 
chorus. I greatly enjoyed the Te Deum and the Gloria 
in Excelsis, and felt a sort of personal grievance if the 
Gloria Patri instead of the latter was sung after the 
Psalter. But it was the Trisagion which most of all 
impressed me, and I would often remain during com- 
munion to hear this solemn anthem. When over the 
bowed heads of the people would rise the trembling 
notes of the invocation, " Therefore, with angels and 
archangels and with all the company of Heaven, we 
laud and magnify Thy glorious name," I would feel 
my boyish heart strangely moved and catch some of the 
spirit of devotional worship which pervades the beauti- 
ful service. 

My interest in the music quickened an ambition to 
become a member of the choir, or, at least, to have an 
entree to its precincts. Accordingly, I often lingered 



48 Random Recollections 

after morning service to hear the practising; then I 
ventured into the choir-loft, and finally the chance ab- 
sence of the organ-blower gave me my opportunity. I 
volunteered my services, which were accepted. There- 
after many practisings found me at the bellows, and I 
improved the opportunities to identify myself with 
the body by encouraging comments and by retailing 
compliments, somewhat intensified, which I had heard 
with respect to their performances. Above all, I 
availed myself of these occasions to join in the singing. 
When the music rolled with its loudest swell, then from 
my post behind the organ I would lift my untrammeled 
voice, fairly reveling in the advantage which my 
position afforded me. In after years my ambi- 
tion was gratified and I was promoted from my place 
behind the organ to a position in front, where I 
lustily sang to the edification, let us trust, of all the 
hearers. 

I have thus recounted many of the scenes and inci- 
dents, joys and mishaps, of my boyhood. Seen through 
the softening light of intervening years, the retrospect 
seems most attractive. What boots it that tasks and 
lessons, empty pockets and uncouth clothes, were inci- 
dents of those early days.'* The joys of youth were 



School Days at Tazewell Hall 49 

there and a boy's heart and hope to meet and vanquish 
every ill. 

" Blessings on thee, little man, 
Barefoot boy with cheek of tan ! 
With thy turned-up pantaloons 
And thy merry whistled tunes. 
Let the million-dollared ride ! 
Barefoot, trudging at his side, 
Thou hast more than he can buy 
In the reach of ear and eye — 
From my heart I give thee joy, 
I was once a barefoot boy." 





CHAPTER IV 

College Days 

T the age of fifteen I entered William and 
Mary College. I was ill prepared for 
this step. The system of discipline and 
instruction which prevailed, though 
sanctioned by many years of successful 
usage, could not secure the best results with a boy of 
my age and inadequate preparation. Students could 
select for themselves, within certain limits, their course 
of studies. Attendance at chapel was optional. In 
all matters of deportment they were simply admonished 
to observe the standards which control gentlemen. 
Nothing akin to espionage, either at recitations or ex- 
aminations, was in vogue, but students were put upon 
their honor. These ideals and methods, while most 
helpful for older students, were not so satisfactory in 

50 



College Days 51 



the case of a young boy who needed the careful over- 
sight and disciphne of the school-room rather than the 
liberty of college halls. However, my Alma Mater 
not only stood ready to open her treasures, but in the 
years of my stay I was the recipient of blessings and 
benefits which cannot be measured. 

The very atmosphere which invests the old college 
is stimulating. No school-man or patriot can regard 
her and the part which she has borne in our country's 
history without quickened interest and pride. She is 
the oldest college in America — Harvard excepted. 
Many of the leading patriots and sages of the Revolu- 
tionary period went forth from her walls. Before the 
Revolution she was the inspiring center of the best 
thought and culture of the colony. Though the child 
of England's King and Queen, her sons were the fore- 
most architects of the Republic. Washington received 
his first commission — surveyor of public lands — from 
her hands, and in after years was her chancellor. Here 
Jefferson's theories of government and the rights of 
man were molded, as he declares, by the lectures of 
Professor Small. While a student, James Monroe en- 
listed in the Revolutionary army. Under her venerable 
law professor, George Wythe, John Marshall was 



52 Random Recollections 

trained for his work as the Great Chief Justice. Men 
without number, who filled eminent stations in the state 
and national governments and made their names famous 
in the forum and the field, were counted among her 
alumni. She was honored as having led in the adoption 
of new methods and in establishing institutions which 
proved in time the wisdom of their founders. Thus 
she was the first college in this country to announce the 
elective system of study ; the first to establish chairs 
for the study of history, modem languages and law; 
the first to award collegiate medals, and the first to 
adopt the honor system in conducting examinations. 
Here was the first school for the Christian education 
of Indians, and here was founded the now celebrated 
Phi Beta Kappa, the first intercollegiate fraternity in 
the United States. 

Her success and renowns were not without periods of 
trial and disaster. Thrice had she been visited by dis- 
astrous fires, and the Revolutionary and Civil wars alike 
closed her doors and destroyed large parts of her patri- 
mony. Misfortunes, however, only served to draw 
about her with more filial affection the hearts of her 
devoted children. Truly it may be said of her, as Mr. 
Webster, with tcar-dimmed eyes, declared in his great 



College Days 53 



speech in the Dartmouth College case, " It is a small 
college, but there are those who love her." 

The charm and inspiration of the place, its history 
and associations have been time and again depicted. 
Miss Glasgow in her recent novel, " The Voice of the 
People," makes the following allusion to the impression 
which the college made upon the mind of her somewhat 
unimpressionable hero : " For the first time those grimy 
walls, which had been thrice overthrown and had thrice 
risen from their ashes, impressed him with the trium- 
phant service they had rendered in the culture of his 
Icind. The long line of illustrious hands, which had 
procured its ancient charter, seemed to wave a ghostly 
benediction over its ancient learning. Clergy and Bur- 
gesses, Council and Governor, Planters and Bishops 
of London, had stood by its birth. It was the fruit of 
the union of the old world and the new, and it had 
waxed strong upon the milk of its mother ere it turned 
rebel. Later to its younger country it had sent forth 
its sons as statesmen, who gave glory to its name, and 
through all its history it had overcome calamity and 
defied assault." 

Like the college, the surrounding country is replete 
with historic scenes and associations. The narrow pen- 



54 Random Recollections 

insula, between the James and York rivers, was the 
theater of the earhest struggles of our forefathers with i 
the Indians ; the conflicts of Bacon's rebellion and 
many of the great battles of the Revolution and the 
Civil War. Here the all-conquering Anglo-Saxon^ 
braving the prowess of Spain and the untried dangers 
of Indians and wilderness, made his first settlement upon 
the shores of the New World. Jamestown, John 
Smith, Pocahontas, Sir William Berkeley, Nathaniel 
Bacon, Lord Dunmore, Patrick Henry, George Wash- 
ington, Comte de Rochambeau, Lafayette, Yorktown^ 
Fortress Monroe, Hampton Roads, The Monitor and 
Merrimac, McClellan, Grant, Lee, Jackson, Bethel, " 
Malvern Hill and Cold Harbor are names to conjure 
with, and quicken in the mind of youth increasing in- ; 
terest in the wonderful story of our people's genesis 
and progress. As the potency of the principles and 
events with which these names are associated becomes 
more distinct to the mind of the student, they prove a ' 
source of inspiration and advance. To this atmosphere 
which pervades the college and its environments, I at- 
tribute in no small degree the taste which I early mani- i 
fested for history and the increasing pleasure and profit 
with which I still regard that study. Not the history J 



College Days 55 



of events, recorded in their bare chronological order, 
but the causations and sequences ; the evolution of 
principles, the establishment of institutions as the re- 
sults of conflicts in council, forum and field, — often far 
remote in time and place from the hour of fruition, — 
and the evident forward movement, despite set-backs 
and failures, of the condition, thought and conscience 
of mankind. 

Political economy and the science of government were 
also favorite studies. My professor, the Rev. Dr. 
George T. Wilmer, early indoctrinated me with the 
theory that the government which governs least gov- 
erns best ; that only so much of the citizen's liberty 
as is absolutely essential to the public good should be 
restrained; that the community should retain the dis- 
charge of all the functions which it can exercise, only 
delegating to the general government the control of 
matters evidently beyond its province ; that any inter- 
ference with the freedom of contracts and commerce is 
to be deplored; that all exemptions from the burdens 
common to the mass of the citizenship are wrong ; that 
the bestowal of special privileges and advantages by the 
government are a perversion of its powers, and that in 
the last analysis its proper function is simply to keep 



56 Random Recollections 

clear the great highway along which each citizen with- 
out help or hindrance must work out for himself the 
problem of his future and destiny. I need not say that 
these ideas are largely those of Mr. Jefferson and other 
thinkers and statesmen of his school of thought. 

Moral philosophy and English were also among my 
favorite studies, but Greek and mathematics proved 
tasks little to my liking. My Greek professor tried to 
awaken my ambition by recalling the scholarly achieve- 
ments of my grandfather in his translation of Homer's 
Iliad, but despite this and the nobility of the Greek 
language, I made but indifferent progress. With 
Latin I was more successful, and especially enjoyed 
reading Virgil. My attainments in Greek and Latin, 
however, were so meager that I had little true appreci- I 
ation of the incomparable works of either of these 
great poets. 

Upon the monument to Dante at Florence are the 
words which he himself addressed to Virgil : " Honor 
the sublime poet ! " Could I recall my student days I 
would give life to this invocation by braver efforts to 
master the noble languages glorified by the genius of 
Homer and Virgil. 

Among the hindrances which kept mc from my 



College Days 57 



books 1 must reckon my fondness for society. Parties, 
theatricals, and social gatherings of all kinds, pos- 
sessed for me a fascination. I greatly enjoyed visit- 
ing, and many an evening found me in some of the 
hospitable homes of Williamsburg, basking in the 
smiles of her fair daughters. I may as well here con- 
fess that from my boyhood I had the keenest apprecia- 
tion of the attractions of the other sex. I will not say 
with the poet, " My only books were women's looks," 
but I own she proved a formidable rival to Clio and her 
sister muses. That her beauty and purity often 
awakened my affection and reverence, goes without say- 
ing. It was not, however, these traits alone which 
possessed for me the subtlest charm. There were others 
— more indefinable and illusory. Her dissimilarity to 
my kind in taste and temperament, her piquancy and 
audacity, mingled with gentleness and devotion ; her 
air of the artistic, and quality of the picturesque, — all 
serve to invest her with ever-recurring interest and lift 
her far away from the realm of the prosaic and com- 
monplace. Added to these the sweet suggestion of her 
kinship with the skies, or, as Wordsworth puts it — 

" And yet a spirit still and bright, 
With something of an angel light." 



58 Random Recollections 

My career in the debating society of the college was 
more creditable, and I look back to my experiences with 
much pleasure and no little amusement. I recall my 
first appearance in the " noble art of debate," as the 
constitution of our society termed it. The question 
was, " Is war a moral duty ? " I do not remember what 
I said, — indeed, I had little consciousness at the time, 
such was my terror and confusion, — but I won what I 
always regarded as a victory over myself, in that I at 
least attempted to speak without a manuscript. The 
ability to think upon one's feet, as it is termed, can 
only be acquired by such practice; while the power to 
impress and move an audience is largely dependent 
upon the magnetic influence which flows from the 
speaker. His eyes should join with his voice in bearing 
his message, which should come from a soul so stirred 
as not to need the aid of manuscript to remind him of 
its purport. 

A volume of Shakespeare for excellence in declama- 
tion, and a gold medal awarded as the best debater 
in our society, are some reminders of my early tri- 
umphs. 

The habit of hazing did not prevail at William and 
Mary, but there did exist a custom of playing tricks 



College Days 59 



upon new students which afforded me a great deal of 
innocent amusement. A frequent practice was to ini- 
tiate freshmen into mock fraternities. I will describe 
one such experience, and in loving memory of that de- 
lightful story of college life at Oxford — " Verdant 
Green " — I give my hero that suggestive title. 

On the night in question a committee from among the 
older students would call upon Mr. Green and inform 
him of his election to membership in the Chi Phi Chi — or 
whatever mysterious title we had selected for our sup- 
posed fraternity. A favorable response from our friend 
Verdant followed, and soon arm-in-arm with his sup- 
posed friends he left the kindly shelter of his own 
room. Before they had gone far on their journey he 
was told that as they neared the sacred precincts of 
the " temple " they would, in accordance with an an- 
cient custom, blindfold him and tie his hands. The 
effect upon the nerves of a neoph3i:e in thus being de- 
prived of his sight and the use of his hands may be 
well imagined; especially as his guardians would from 
time to time adjure him not to be unduly alarmed at 
the stirring character of the rites ; that he would doubt- 
less come through all right, — at least, without any 
broken bones or the loss of any limbs. Arriving at the 



60 Random Recollections 

'* temple," Green was admitted, but not until many 
mysterious knocks had been sounded and whispered 
conferences between his guards and the supposed rep- 
resentative of the grand vizier. A march around the 
" temple " next followed ; the tramp of students' feet 
ir unison, as they sat or stood about the room, produc- 
ing the impression of the presence of a mighty com- 
pany. A rope was then placed around the neck of the 
candidate and he was conducted to the altar, before 
which he knelt and took an oath, following the high 
priest as the latter recited it. By this oath our friend 
covenanted under penalties of death, by every form of 
torture, to answer truthfully every question pro- 
pounded by the grand vizier, obey every command of 
that august dignitary, and generally to observe, without 
faltering or deviating, the instructions of his guards 
and the officials of the order. 

Having their victim thus completely in their power, 
his tormentors proceeded to ask him all sorts of ques- 
tions and to compel him to speak and preach upon vari- 
ous subjects. His views upon Theosophy, the Binomial 
Theorem, the proper procedure to observe in courting, 
the scope of his ambitions, etc., etc., were required 
under threatened penalties and given with many falter- 



College Days 61 



ings and overwhelming confusion. Finally the can- 
didate was informed that his preliminary examination 
was satisfactory, and that he would be conducted by a 
suitable guard to the grand portal of the inner shrine, 
upon gaining admission to which he would, with be- 
fitting ceremonies, be elevated to the sublime mysteries 
of the great Chi Phi Chi. Accordingly he was again 
led forth, still blindfolded and tied, and conducted 
most stealthily to the front door of the dwelling of 
some citizen, selected because of his well-known brusque- 
ness and asperity of manner. En route he would be 
told that only one more trial awaited him — his steady 
refusal to do aught, except give the password, when 
accosted by the sentinel at the portal to the inner 
shrine. He was informed that at this portal, after the 
sign had been given (which consisted of three knocks), 
his guards would leave him, but that the continued re- 
iteration of the password " Keno " would finally satisfy 
the sentinel and secure him admission. It was a unique 
spectacle, as the two students, having our friend blind- 
folded and tied, stood at the hour of midnight before 
the front door of some sleeping citizen, while their 
comrades hid themselves in the grounds about the dwell- 
ing, so as to be within ear-shot of what was said. The 



62 Random Recollections 

fateful moment had arrived, when, giving three re- 
sounding knocks upon the door, the guards would slip 
away, admonishing their victim to stand firm and trust 
to the watchword. Soon the suddenly awakened and 
irate householder, candle in hand, might be heard un- 
barring the door, and demanding in stentorian tones 
to know what was meant by this assault upon his home. 
In response came the feeble voice of the frightened 
victim saying " Keno ! Keno ! " To every demand and 
threatening of the outraged citizen this same answer 
would be returned, until at length, perhaps holding his 
candle a little higher, he would catch a full view of his 
supposed assailant and then the truth would dawn upon 
him. With mingled disgust and amusement he would 
gruffly inform the still deluded candidate for Chi Phi 
Chi honors that the students were making a fool of him, 
and slam the door in his face. As he retired his voice 
might still be heard warning our astonished friend 
to get away, and that quickly, or he would set the dogs 
upon him. Then the students would come forward to 
the relief of the astonished Verdant, and with many 
felicitations escort him home, making the welkin ring 
as they sang, " For he 's a jolly good fellow, which no- 
body can deny," an air in which the victim would feebly 



College Days 63 



join, but with many misgivings as to the truth of the 
sentiment. 

Sometimes this inventive mischievousness of the 
students Avould be turned against the professors, and 
the latter would often find their lecture-rooms decorated 
little to their liking, or songs would ring out and acros- 
tics would appear reciting their virtues and infirmities 
in strains of clever satire. Occasionally the clapper 
of the college bell would be kidnapped, and the ancient 
statue of Lord Botetourt would be decked out in cap 
and gown or other insignia little befitting his dignity. 
This statue was erected by the general assembly of 
the colony to this, the best beloved of all the colonial 
governors, and in rather sonorous terms its inscription 
recites the virtues of the Right Honorable Norborne 
Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt. The many years during 
which his lordship has buffeted the assaults of the un- 
dergraduates of William and Mary have left their im- 
press, while the Federal soldiers, who, during the Civil 
War, made different portions of his anatomy targets for 
their bullets, have deprived him of his nose and de- 
capitated several of the allegorical figures on his marble 
pedestal. 

I have the kindest recollections of my fellow-students. 



64 Random Recollections 

Reckoning the number in attendance during the four 
years of my stay, they will compare most favorably 
in intellectual attainments with those of any other like 
institution in the land. Jennings and Yclverton Gar- 
nett, Cannon and Henry Wise Hobson, Breckenridge 
Wilmer, Henry C. Coke, Robert M. Hughes, James 
Lindsay Gordon, J. Allen Watts, Bankhcad Thornton, 
Bathurst Peachy, Wm. P. Kent, Carey Armistead, 
Robert L. Christie, Dennison Cole and Richie Stone 
are among those whose names come back to me, fra- 
grant with the association of those halcyon days. Some 
have passed on to join the great majorit}, while others 
are filling their several roles in life with the success and 
credit of which they gave such promise in their student 
days. 

Of Jennings Wise Garnett, who commenced his col- 
lege career with mc at William and Mary, it is diffi- 
cult to speak in terms of moderation. He was a man 
of brilliant mental endowments, with a most remarkable 
capacity for assimilating knowledge. His disposition 
was as lovely and lovable as his mind was brilliant. In 
face and form he looked like some young Grecian fresh 
from the Olympian games. After a career of unpre- 
cedented success at WilHani and ]Marv, he entered the 



College Days 65 



University of Virginia, where even greater triumphs 
awaited him. Crowned with his many honors, which 
he so modestly wore, he went forth into hfe the idol 
of his kindred and comrades, and an inspiration to all 
with whom he came in contact. Then death called him ! 
For what purpose such an intellect — such a heaven-lit 
soul — gone hence, while yet it was dawn, if the dead 
rise not again.'* 

As I think of him the lines of Armistead Gordon, one 
of our Virginia poets, addressed to his memory, come 
to my mind. 

*' I fancy that your soul somewhere to-night 
Rejoices in the glow of Shakespeare's smile; 
That Bacon's luminating thoughts beguile 
Your knowledge-craving spirit ; that the light 
Of Shelley's face shines on your enraptured sight ; 
That Marlowe's song is ringing in your ears, 
And 3'et to my unwilling eyes the tears 
Steal tremulously up, my cheek grows white; 
Can Shakespeare's smile and Shelley's beauty keep 

Your spirit so entranced no thought will stray 
Back to this nether planet where we weep ? 

Is our old night-time lost in your new day ? 
Ah, no ! For sweet though Marlowe's song may be. 
And Bacon's words, you walk no less to-night with 
me." 



66 Random Recollections 

Of the professors with whom I came in contact,! have 
the kindest recollections. In addition to the Rev. Dr. 
Wilmer, to whom I have already referred, I recall Dr. 
Richard A. Wise, Professor Charles Dodd, Rev. Dr. 
Lyman B. Wharton, and Professor Thomas L. Snead. 
But the foremost man of the faculty in the affections of 
the student-body was the President, Colonel Benjamin 
S. Ewell, or as the students called him, when not in his 
presence, " Old Buck." No disrespect was intended by 
this appellation, for as above intimated, he was re- 
garded with genuine affection by all the undergradu- 
ates. It was a most grateful duty, many years after 
my student days, to present to the College, on behalf 
of the alumni, the memorial tablet placed upon the 
walls of the chapel in memory of this venerable presi- 
dent. A few lines from the address which I delivered 
on that occasion may serve to show the position which 
he occupied with respect to the College, and in the 
estimation of the students : 

" It would indeed be a grateful task to portray 
at length his life and character, but time will not 
permit. I desire, however, to point out what 
seemed to be the great motif of his life, — the strain 
which through all the years of his mature man- 



College Days 67 



hood throbbed with strongest beat, — namely, his 
great love for the College of William and Mary, 
his pride in her illustrious history, and his efforts 
to make her future equal her glorious past. Linked 
with his love for the College was his warm interest 
in the young manhood which gathered in her halls 
— sympathy for its failures, hopes for its aspira- 
tions and a charity for its foibles which would cover 
a multitude of sins." 

My feelings with respect to the College itself are 
most sympathetic, and may be well expressed by an- 
other quotation from the address just referred to : 

" I would make this occasion, and the memories 
which it awakens, a source of inspiration to revive 
our love for our Alma Mater, and the aspirations 
quickened when we were children at her knee. Un- 
der the spell of her teachings, and before the world 
had dimmed our ardor, there stirred within us im- 
pulses and yearnings which it were well to bring 
back to our lives. Her benign influence calls only 
to hope, and energy, and high resolves. 

" Let me repeat in your hearing, my fellow- 
alumni and students of William and Mary, the 
words of Matthew Arnold, unequaled in beauty of 
expression and sentiment, which he addressed to his 
Alma Mater : ' Steeped in sentiment as she lies, 



68 Random Recollections 

spreading her gardens to the moonhght, and whis- 
pering from her towers the last enchantments of the 
Middle Ages, who will deny that Oxford, by her 
ineffable charm, keeps ever calling us nearer to the 
true goal of us all — to the ideal, to perfection, to 
beauty, in another word, which is only truth seen 
from another side.' " 

I had long cherished an ambition to become a lawyer, 
and so, my college days over, I returned to my father's 
home in Botetourt, to which he had removed, intent if 
possible upon carrying this aspiration into effect. My 
father had been in his early manhood a practising 
lawyer, while my grandfather, William Munford, the 
author of the Virginia Reports bearing the name, had 
been quite eminent in the profession. So it seemed a 
not unreasonable ambition that I should wish to follow 
in their footsteps. Between me and the attainment of 
my desire, however, loomed a great barrier — the want 
of money with which to secure the necessary legal edu- 
cation, and to support myself during the years of wait- 
ing which is the usual lot of the young attorney. My 
father fully sympathized with me, and with character- 
istic generosity set about making arrangements to en- 
able me to enter the law school of the University of 



College Days 69 



Virginia. My hopes were high, and the future seemed 
assured, when suddenly the prospect was completelj^ 
changed by my father's death. 

Of my father I must pause to say a word of affec- 
tionate remembrance. He was a high type of the Vir- 
ginia gentleman — the best product of the ante-bellum 
days. Chivalrous, honorable, refined — a great lover 
of books, and with no small degree of literary taste and 
attainment. To write poetry or pore over the pages 
of some favorite author possessed for him far more 
attraction than the status of his bank-account or the 
condition of his larder. He was generous and cour- 
teous, something of a dreamer, with a touch of knightly 
impulsiveness. He had little of the controversialist or 
sceptic in his make-up. He walked in the old paths, 
accepting the faiths and standards which he learned 
at his mother's knee. Among those who knew and 
loved him best he was often likened to Thackeray's 
hero, Colonel Newcome, and I myself can see not a few 
points of similarity in their characters. His last days, 
spent in part as I have said, in devising plans for my 
future, were characteristic of his gentle and unselfish 
life. When the final call came it found him ready, 
only regretful that he had not accomplished more to 



70 Random Recollections 

honor his Maker and help his kind. Of the peaceful, 
trusting spirit which marked the close, I will not speak, 
except to quote the familiar lines of Thackeray : 

" At the usual evening hour the chapel bell began 
to toll, and Thomas Newcome's hands, outside the 
bed, feebly beat time, and just as the last bell struck 
a peculiar sweet smile shone over his face, and he 
lifted up his head a little and quickly said ' Adsum ! ' 
and fell back. It was the word we used at school 
when names were called, and lo ! he whose heart was 
as that of a little child, had answered his name, and 
stood in the presence of the Master." 

My cherished ambition would doubtless have received 
a permanent set-back by my father's death but for the 
generosity of my brother-in-law. Judge James Dodd- 
ridge Coles. From him I received an invitation to read 
law in his office, and during the time make his house my 
home. Of the welcome character of this invitation I 
cannot speak except in terms of sincerest appreciation. 
The act was indicative of the man, — the soul of kind- 
ness and generosity. With the most sympathetic in- 
terest he directed all my studies, and afterward as- 
sisted me no little during the trying days immediately 
following my admission to the Bar. 



College Days 71 



Judge Coles resided at Chatham, the county seat of 
Pittsylvania County, and thither I went in the fall of 
1876. I was received in the most cordial way by the 
people of the town and county : a foretaste of the many 
kindnesses of which I was to be the recipient during the 
years of my sojourn in their midst. 

From the day of my arrival until the following sum- 
mer I devoted myself with great assiduity to the study 
of the law. On the whole I made satisfactory progress, 
and after nine months entered the Summer Law School 
at the University of Virginia. This was quite an 
event in my life. The atmosphere of the Uni- 
versity and the contact with its famous law pro- 
fessor, John B. Minor, served to broaden my horizon 
and stir within me new hopes and aspirations. 

My stay, though all too short, was very helpful, and 
I can recall now no summer of my life more pleasantly 
and profitably spent. Of Mr. Minor's powers as a 
teacher I need not speak. He had at that time filled his 
position for over forty years, and was destined to round 
out his half century of illustrious labors, as the oldest 
and most distinguished professor of Common and 
Statute Law in America. 

The University itself, its location and architecture, 



72 Random Recollections 

are well calculated to produce the most favorable im- 
pression. Unlike the majorit}^ of our institutions of 
learning, it is not an aggregation of buildings brought 
together at different periods without unity of design, 
but it came forth the product of one mind, a finished 
group ; classic, harmonious and complete. 

Upon a commanding plateau overlooking a beautiful 
expanse of green fields, vine-clad steppes, wooded hills 
and blue mountains, its great founder, Mr. Jefferson, 
m.arked its boundaries. , 

Every detail of its location and construction, as well 
as the character of its government and the ideal of its 
mission, bears the impress of this many-sided man. Over 
at Monticello one reads upon the granite shaft which 
marks his grave the record of the achievements for 
which he asked to be remembered by posterity : " Author 
of the Declaration of American Independence and the 
Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father 
of the University of Virginia." 

My nine-months study in the law office of Judge 
Coles enabled me to compass very successfully the 
course, which is especially designed for young lawyers 
and those who propose to continue their studies during 
the regular sessions of the University. I recall, how- 



College Days 73 



ever, one occasion of ignominious failure. It was the 
last day of the term. I had been selected by my class 
to present Professor Minor a testimonial of their re- 
gard, and I had spent my time preparing my address. 
Of the subject of the lecture I had not read a page. 
I sat in my seat conning over the lines of my speech 
when I was suddenly aroused from my reverie by a 
question from the Professor. My failures seemed to 
incite him to fresh efforts, and only the stroke of the 
bell, which marked the hour of adjournment, served to 
stop him in his harrowing career. Then it was with 
drooping feathers that I arose and delivered the speech 
whose preparation had been the occasion of my dis- 
grace. 

From the University I returned to Chatham in the 
fall of 1877, and again applied myself to the study of 
law in Judge Coles's office. My financial straits pre- 
vented me from returning to the University. I had 
then, as I have now, the liveliest appreciation of the loss 
thus occasioned me. For the same reason I felt com- 
pelled some six months later to apply for my license to 
practise law, though a continuance of my studies for a 
much longer period would have been far more advis- 
able. Accordingly in February, 1878, I appeared be- 



74 Random Recollections 

fore Judge William M. Tredway and Judge G. A. 
Wingfield for my examination. It was no sign of great 
erudition that I was able to stand this test, as the ex- 
aminations then in vogue were far from difficult. 

So it was that early in the year 1 878 the long-looked- 
for hour arrived. Just twenty-one years of age, with 
a very modest sum in bank, twelve law-books in hand 
and a moderate knowledge of their contents, I stepped 
into the arena, where so many try and so many fail, 
and offered my services as Counselor and Attorney to a 
confiding public. Whatever my shortcomings, or the 
slender store of this world's goods with which my craft 
was freighted, I was young — hope and enthusiasm beat 
high — and with the poet I felt that " In the glorious 
lexicon of Youth there was no such word as ' fail '.'* 





CHAPTER V 

Some Experiences at the Bar 

SHALL always regard it a fortunate cir- 
cumstance that I commenced the practice 
of the law in the country. The cordiality 
of the lawyers, the neighborliness of the 
people, and above all, the opportunities 
thus afforded for studying human nature in its many 
forms and phases, were circumstances which redounded 
both to my pleasure and profit. No where can the art of 
getting on with one's fellow-man, or measuring his char- 
acter, sentiments, and prejudices, be more thoroughly 
acquired than amid the experiences of a county Court- 
room, or on the Court green in Old Virginia. Not only 
does the lawyer appear before a cloud of witnesses, but 
he must appreciate the stupidity, integrity, craftiness, 
patriotism and all other characteristics of that curious 

75 



76 Random Recollections 

aggregation denominated " the people." Unless the 
lawyer or man of affairs understands and reckons with 
these varying peculiarities, he is destined to slow suc- 
cess. 

On the occasion of the session of the Court following 
the procurement of my license I was admitted to the 
Bar of the County Court of Pittsylvania. The trial 
of a criminal charged with arson was called. With 
characteristic kindness the senior counsel for the pris- 
oner invited me to join him and his associate for the 
defense, suggesting that while no fee could be prom- 
ised yet the opportunity would thus be afforded me 
to appear at the Bar — a great desideratum with a 
young lawyer. The trial resulted in a hung jury. 
My labors were confined to a speech, the highest en- 
comium upon which was that of a friendly country- 
man, who assured me that I " never teched the earth 
from start to finish." Despite the somewhat doubtful 
character of my first effort, I was immediately employed 
for the defense in two petty criminal cases. 

I will record my experience in one of these cases as 
it bore upon the matter of fixing and securing the fee — 
a feature of the practice which I subsequently found 
to be of great importance. A son had been indicted 



Some Experiences at the Bar 77 

for some petty offense, and the father and mother had 
retained an old lawyer and myself to defend him. We 
met to talk over the case and arrange the fee. The old 
lawyer suggested in confidence that I permit him to 
take charge of the negotiations for the fee, in which I 
of course readily acquiesced. After the case had been 
gone over, the wife, who in this instance seemed to be 
the head of the house, inquired as to the amount of the 
fee. My associate immediately assumed a very grave 
demeanor. He inquired whether our clients would pay 
cash, and on being answered in the negative, he then 
proceeded to ascertain what property they owned. It 
was found to consist of two horses, five head of cattle 
and a small farm, with the usual household and kitchen 
furniture, farming utensils, etc. He then delivered 
himself about as follows: 

" This case is one of profound moment both to your- 
self and your son. It presents legal questions of un- 
usual difficulty, and it will require great labor and the 
expenditure of much time to secure its proper presenta- 
tion to the Court and Jury. In view of all this, and 
yet with every desire to bring the amount of our fee 
within easy reach of your ability to pay, I feel, and my 
brother Munford, I am sure, agrees with me, that if 



78 Random Recollections 

you will send us one horse and four head of cattle we 
will be satisfied." 

Profound silence followed this announcement, during 
which period my venerable associate knit his brow as if 
already burdened with the mental labors incident to the 
cause. Our female client soon broke the silence in a 
fervent protest against the amount of the fee. She 
portrayed the great value of the horse and cattle in 
question, and plead for a more moderate charge. My 
associate was obdurate, and met every appeal with un- 
answerable arguments. In reply to the insistence that 
the horse was absolutely necessary to enable them to 
raise their accustomed crops, he floored her with the 
reminder that they would not in the future need such 
large crops, in view of the fact that we would relieve 
them of the expense of caring for so many cattle. I 
preserved a discreet silence, only nodding my head from 
time to time with great solemnity in response to appeals 
from my associate. 

When the interview ended, and I found myself con- 
templating the nucleus of a herd which should in due 
time rival that which Jacob tended, I could but com- 
mend a profession where knowledge, or its supposed 
possession, commanded such recognition and emolu- 



Some Experiences at the Bar 79 

nients. My appreciative reflections, however, were of 
short duration, for the trial over and the stock de- 
hvcred, it then developed that a prior mortgage existed 
upon the blooded horse, while the cattle were of a size 
so diminutive as to be of little worth, except perchance 
to compensate supposed crafty but over-credulous 
lawyers. 

Apropos of a young lawyer's experience in connec- 
tion with his first fee, I will record that of my friend, 
the Hon. Claude A. Swanson, who a few years later 
Mas admitted to the same Bar. 

One Philip Hardcastle had sued out an attachment 
against the tobacco crop of his delinquent tenant, Jas- 
per Jenkins, whom he suspected, and not without cause, 
of spiriting it away without paying his rent. The to- 
bacco had been sold by the officer and the proceeds 
brought into Court, to await the decision of a motion 
made by the defendant to abate the attachment and turn 
the proceeds of the tobacco over to him. As a rule, 
few attachment proceedings can stand the scrutiny and 
assaults of a well-posted lawyer. The statute requires 
the strictest compliance with its provisions, or the pro- 
ceedings will be dismissed, the defendant's property re- 



80 Random Recollections 

turned, with a right of action against the creditor for 
its illegal seizure. Of all this the counsel employed 
by Jenkins had some hazy notion, but his ideas and 
knowledge were not of that exact character which wins 
victories in such contests. In this dilemma he retained 
my friend Mr. Swanson, who had just returned from 
the law school at the University of Virginia as his as- 
sociate. 

I will not attempt to describe the trial which followed. 
Suffice it to say that Swanson drove a coach and four 
through the attachment proceedings. He pointed out 
with great precision the fatal defects in the plaintiff's 
papers, and with fervid eloquence portrayed the inalien- 
able rights of the defendant and their violation by the 
plaintiff, who without the intervention of a jury to pass 
upon the right of the case had seized the defendant's 
property. With much more of like import the young 
attorney delivered himself, to the horror of the plain- 
tiff, the wonder of the b^'standers, and the great de- 
light of old Jenkins and his senior counsel. 

The trial over, an advantageous settlement was 
quickly made with Hardcastle, by which he agreed to 
release Jenkins from the rent due in return for a re- 
linquishment by the latter of his claim for damages 



Some Eccperiences at the Bar 81 

for the illegal seizure of his tobacco. These prelimi- 
naries arranged, the three victors, client and attorneys, 
met to talk over the results and, as was thought by at 
least two of the party, to make a partition of the fruits 
of victory. A check representing the proceeds of 
Jenkins's labor and Swanson's services was held by the 
senior counsel, who during the conference gave it many 
endearing pats, while Jenkins's eyes rested upon it with 
an expression of mingled tenderness and fear. After 
many intimations from his associates as to the impor- 
tant matter for which they had assembled, the senior 
counsel brought the subject to a head and the confer- 
ence to a close by the following deliverance : 

" Jenkins ! You have derived great benefit from the 
services of your counsel. Not only have you secured a 
release by Hardcastle of his claim against you for the 
rent without paying him one dollar, but above and be- 
yond all, you have had your inalienable rights vindi- 
cated at the Bar of a Court of Justice. Swanson ! 
Old fellow, you have had such an opportunity as rarely 
comes to a young attorney for displaying your learn- 
ing and eloquence, and the reputation which you have 
made to-day will be of untold value to you in all the 
future years of your professional career. And now. 



82 Random Recollections 

in view of all these facts, I trust and believe you gentle- 
men will allow me to retain this pittance [alluding to 
the check] as a fee for my onerous services in the case.'* 
A moment of solemn silence followed this announce- 
ment, only broken at length by the amused exclamation 
of Swanson, " Well, Colonel ! I believe you are right ! " 
And linking his arm in that of his senior they departed, 
leaving old Jenkins to ruminate upon his inalienable 
rights and the luxury of securing their vindication in 
a Court of Justice. 

There is no intellectual arena more stimulating than 
that presented in the practice of the law. The minds 
and hearts of judges and jurors are the forts to con- 
quer. Knowledge of the law and acquaintance with 
human nature are the arsenals from which ammunition 
is drawn. Logical arguments, persuasive eloquence, 
tact and common sense, are the weapons of victory. 

The Pittsylvania Bar at the time of which I write 
numbered among its resident and visiting members 
many men of unquestioned learning and ability. First 
and foremost among the resident lawyers must be men- 
tioned the late James M. Whittle and Charles E. Dab- 
ney, both men profoundly read in legal lore and thor- 



Some Experiences at the Bar 83 

oughly versed in all the intricacies of common-law 
pleading. Then the Tredways, the Dillards, Judge 
James Doddridge Coles, John Gilmer, Major Lang- 
horne Scruggs, Chiswell Dabney, George T. Rison and 
others. From Danville came a goodly number of well- 
equipped attorneys, led by R. W. Peatross and Judge 
Berryman Green. Among many from adjacent Bars 
were Major Charles M. Blackford of Lynchburg and 
Judge John W. Riely of Halifax, two of the ablest 
lawyers and most lovable men in Virginia. Two not- 
able figures whom I very pleasantly recall were Colonel 
Elisha Barksdale, Jr., and Colonel Thomas S. Flour- 
noy, who generally appeared as associate counsel. The 
former impressed me by his great skill as an examiner 
of witnesses, and the latter by his fervor and eloquence 
as an advocate. A few years later came two younger 
men, Claude A. Swanson and Andrew Jackson Mon- 
tague, who from their first appearance gave abundant 
promise of the success and prominence which they have 
since achieved. 

I have mentioned the sympathy evinced by the old 
lawyers in every new-comer, myself included. To help 
the young practitioner with advice and instruction, and 
to indoctrinate him in the traditions and ethics of the 



84 Randotn Recollections 

profession, seemed obligations which they met with the 
readiest courtesy. The social side, too, of this inter- 
course was delightful and instructive. Reminiscences 
of the Bench and Bar of this country and Old England 
were favorite themes of conversation. The learning of 
judges as displayed in great opinions, and the achieve- 
ments of advocates in marvelous efforts before Courts 
and Juries, these were recounted both for the pleasure 
of recalling the triumphs and as a stimulus to like en- 
deavor. By precept and example the Nestors sought 
to inspire the younger members with the esprit de corps 
which should characterize the profession. 

As time wore on I gradually built up the practice of 
a busy country lawyer. No great cases came to my 
office, but the experience was full of interesting inci- 
dents reflecting the life of the countryside. My fees 
were small, but my zeal was quickened by conflicts with 
opposing counsel — the impulse which prompts the at- 
torney to make his client's cause his own — and the allur- 
ing prospects of fame and fortune which the law holds 
out to its faithful votaries. 

Ten years of delightful association with my brethren 
of the Pittsylvania Bar and satisfactory progress in 
my profession followed, and then the scene changed 
by my removal to Richmond. The immediate cause 



Some Eocperiences at the Bar 85 

of this step was an offer from the late Judge Waller R. 
Staples to become his partner and open offices for the 
practice of our profession in the Capital City. 

Of my friend Judge Staples, with whom I was asso- 
ciated as partner for nearly ten years, I cannot speak 
except in terms of the sincerest appreciation. My es- 
timate of his character as a man and his accomplish- 
ments as a lawyer I publicly expressed in an address 
delivered before the Supreme Court of Virginia soon 
after his death. Great kindness of heart and simplicity 
of character were his distinguishing traits. His best 
claim to talent was a disposition and capacity for tak- 
ing infinite pains. He often expressed to me his ad- 
miration for the law as a profession because it offered 
unlimited opportunities for effort and always returned 
appreciable results for every hour of labor bestowed. 
His well-considered and luminous opinions as a judge 
constitute a lasting memorial to his fame, but the pro- 
fession little appreciate the immense labor which they 
cost their author. In deploring his want of capacity 
for quick work, he once informed me that some of his 
opinions were written and rewritten as many as four 
times before he felt satisfied with their structure and 
reasoning. 

My experience as a city lawyer was In many respects 



86 Random Recollections 

very different from that of a country practitioner. One 
of the principal changes was in the scenes incident to 
the trial of cases. In the country, large crowds were 
almost invariably present to hear the lawyers, and per- 
force to stimulate them to greater oratorical efforts. 
In the city, however, the attendance was ordinarily 
limited to the Court officials and the parties directly in- 
terested in the trial. This latter condition tended to 
deprive trials of their picturesqueness, besides render- || 
ing the verdict of the jury much less influenced by 
public opinion. In the country, especially in the trial 
of criminal cases and damage suits against corpora- 
tions, public sentiment is a factor with which each side 
must reckon. Doubtless it was a knowledge of this fact 
that impelled a distinguished lawyer friend of mine, 
in defending a railroad company, to begin his argu- 
ment as follows : " May it please the Court, you Gentle- 
men of the Jury, and you fellow-citizens of the County 
of Culpeper." 

The temptation to include the spectators, whether 
few or many, presents a strong fascination to the Vir- 
ginia lawyer, as a rule so fluent of speech and con- 
scious of the appreciation with which oratorical efforts 
are received by the populace. 



Some Experiences at the Bar 87 

It was in a legal argument before Chief Justice Mar- 
shall on the elements requisite to constitute treason un- 
der the Federal Constitution, that Mr. Wirt indulged 
in his famous eulogy on Blennerhassett and his Island. 
History fails to record any admonition from the Court 
to the distinguished Attorney-General that his remarks 
were not pertinent to the question at issue. Another 
leader of the Richmond Bar, however, did not fare so 
well, in addressing the Supreme Court of Virginia, 
when that sturdy old Jurist, Judge Moncure, was its 
President. Said that learned counsel, in opening his 
argument : " My client, Spiro Zetelle, is a native of 
one of those far-famed Ionian Isles, ' where burning 
Sappho loved and sung.' " He had proceeded thus 
far when Judge Moncure, with his hand behind his ear 
and apparently greatly interested, interrupted — " Will 
the learned counsel kindly repeat that proposition.'' I 
did not catch its import." 

The late Judge Hugh L. Bond, of the United States 
Circuit Court, once told me of an experience, while 
presiding at the trial of a suit in North Carolina, where 
the only question at issue was the genuineness of the 
defendant's signature to the paper sued on. The 
counsel for the defendant, whom I will call Colonel 



88 Random Recollections 

Sharpshooter, thus opened his argument before tlie 
jury: " My client, Gentlemen of the Jury, was one of 
those dauntless spirits, who when the tocsin of war 
sounded through this land, drew his stainless sword 
at Big Bethel and never sheathed it until the fateful 
day at Appomattox." At this point Judge Bond with 
great solemnity interrupted the counsel — " The Court 
feels compelled to admonish counsel that his eloquent 
remarks are not germane to the issue. There is no 
evidence before the jury that his client was at Big 
Bethel or at Appomattox. Nor is there any evidence 
that he had a sword, stainless or otherwise, or ever 
drew it, or ever sheathed it. Had such evidence been 
offered, the Court would have been constrained to ex- 
clude it as irrelevant." 

Soon after my removal to Richmond I was appointed 
counsel for the Richmond & Danville Railroad Com- 
pany, and all suits instituted against the Company in 
some fifteen counties, cities and towns were committed to 
my charge. I thus had renewed opportunities as a 
country practitioner, besides being introduced to many 
novel experiences as the counsel for a railroad company. 

It will always remain a source of interest to me why 
the ordinary mortal, in his relations with railroad com- 



Some Experiences at the Bar 89 

panies, seems to present a phase of character and 
method of deahng not exhibited under any of the other 
conditions of hfe. The character of claims presented, 
the terms employed in correspondence and Court 
papers, the testimony of witnesses, and above all the 
speeches of lawyers for the claimants, are as a rule 
unique and often full of humor. From an abundant 
store of incidents I note a few as illustrating these 
facts. 



{Copy of letter from a lady, owner of cattle killed by 
railroad train.) 

Skin QUARTER, Virginia, Sept. 11, 189-. 
Sir: I have heretofore several times notified the 
agents of your Company of the fact that three of 
my best milch cows were killed by one of your trains 
in July last. We have had much letter-writing 
back and forth, and the railroad man has been here 
several times to see me. He says that ni}^ claim of 
$50 a head for my cows is too much. How he can 
say that, I do not know. He had never seen them 
until they were dead, and had no knowledge of the 
amount which I could make from them by the sale 
of milk and butter. Lately they have not been 



90 Random Recollections 

giving as much milk because the season has been 
dry, but with a good season or a httle feeding 
they would do as well as any cows I had. He also 
told me that by your direction he had examined the 
Records at the Court-house, and found that I had 
latelj^ valued these cows for taxation at $20 a head. 
You will permit me to say, however, that the value 
of my cows when given in for taxation is an en- 
tirely different thing from their value when killed 
by that murderous engine. INIy cows are dead, and 
unless I am promptly- paid their just value, namely, 
$50 apiece, I shall carr^' my case to law, and not 
only demand their full value, but damages for their 
unlawful killing. 

Write by return mail. Yours truly, 

{Copy of letter from the oxcner of hog killed by railroad 
train. ) 

Roaring Falls, July 23, ISO- 
Dear Sir: On the 11th of February, 189-, the 
southbound passenger train killed a hog belonging 
to me. He was something over two years old, and 
though I have probably seen hogs with finer pedi- 
grees, I have not seen a finer hog. It was about 
four o'clock Saturda}' evening. The hog died 
sometime Sunday night. The Section Master esti- 



Some Experiences at the Bar 91 

mated his weight at 225 pounds. No one else put 
him at less than 250 pounds. It turned out by 
actual weighing that the Section Master was right. 
He was poor, as he did not come up more than once 
a week for something to eat. Everybody was glad 
to have him go where he pleased, and a few barrels 
of corn would have made him weigh from 4*00 to 
500 pounds. 

The Section Master and myself agreed on $20 
for him, which was less than the price of the meat. 
That was Monday. The following Wednesday he 
called on me and said to me that the Supervisor had 
instructed him to say to me that he considered the 
charge excessive, and would pay no attention to it ; 
also asked him what had become of the hog. 

One of my tenants had skinned the hog to make 
soap. He got the hog, with the exception of some 
small pieces, boxed it and notified the Supervisor 
that it was in the depot subject to his order. The 
Supervisor ordered him to sell it, which he did the 
following Saturday. I gave the Supervisor a piece 
of my mind, plain and explicit. I appealed to Mr. 
B., and also wrote to Mr. R., referring him to all 
and every man in Roaring Falls and for miles 
around as to the value of the hog. He replied that 
he had referred my letter and the account to the 
Supervisor, and the latter to the auditor. Shortly 
afterward I received a letter with your name 



92 Random Recollections 

signed, saying that if I had made a reasonable 
claim it would have been settled — I quote from 
memory — but upon further examination it had been 
found that the Railroad Company was not respon- 
sible. I replied that if you could kill a man's hog, 
carry him off, sell him and pocket the proceeds with- 
out being responsible, you had reached the summit 
of railroad financiering. By that I meant, of 
course, the Railroad Company instead of you. I 
then sued the Company for $25. I only summoned 
three witnesses, when I might have summoned thirty. 
They testified that the hog was not only worth $25 
yearly to me, but was worth $25 yearly to 
the neighbors. I got judgment for that amount, 
and it was appealed to the County' Court. Mr. W., 
your attorney, after inquiring into the facts and 
getting the Supervisor's admission that he had no 
defense, came to me for a compromise. I told him 
that all I cared for was to convince the R. R. Co. 
that I was right, but if I had to deal with the 
Supervisor a fight between the Company and mysel f 
was unavoidable. He said I was right, and wc com- 
promised on $20, the original amount. I see Mr. 
W. once every three or four months, and he shoul- 
ders all the blame for my not being paid, like the 
gentleman he is. Says it is all his fault. There- 
fore all I want to know is whether the compromise 
stands or is off, or, in other words, whether it is 



Some Experiences at the Bar 93 

peace or war. I am satisfied that a man might get 
justice from corporations if he could strike the 
right man, but to take their employees as they come 
he will be broke before he finds him, and it will be 
worth more than $20 to me if I can consider them 
lawful prey with a clear conscience. This is weari- 
some, but I do not see how I could give you all the 
facts more explicitly. Yours respectfully, 

A traveler's horse had been frightened by the alleged 
negligence of the railroad company in permitting 
steam to escape from one of its engines left in close 
proximity to the highway. As a result a runaway en- 
sued, in which the traveler received serious injuries. 
This simple statement embodied the essential facts of 
the claim preferred for damages. From a long dec- 
laration of innumerable counts I select the following as 
a specimen of the terms employed in setting out for the 
information of the Court, the plaintiff's claim against 
the railroad company. 

State of Virginia, ^ To wit : In the Circuit Court 
City of . J FOR THE City of C . 

Jacob Jones, plaintiff, complains of the Rich- 
mond and Danville Railroad Company, defendant, 



94 Random Recollections 

who has been duly summoned, etc., of a plea that 
the defendant render to the plaintiff the sum of 
$10,000 for this, to wit: 

That heretofore, to wit: on the 23rd day of 
May, 1892, the said plaintiff was lawfully possessed 
of a certain buggy, to wit : a double-seated spring 
buggy of great value, and of a horse thereto hitched 
and drawing the same, and in which the said 
plaintiff was then riding and passing in and along 

a certain public highway, in the City of C , 

known as the Old Carolina Road. And the said de- 
fendant was then possessed of a certain railroad, 
to wit: a railroad with main track and switch tracks, 

and side tracks, running in the City of C , 

partly along and partly across certain highways 
set apart and dedicated and used as a public high- 
way for public travel, and especially of a certain 
track upon and across a certain highway in the 
said City known as the Old Carolina Road, to wit: 
the public crossing at or nearest to Abram Barley's 
store ; and of a certain engine or locomotive, moved 
and propelled by steam, then standing and remain- 
ing stationary on one of the tracks of the said de- 
fendant within the roundhouse yard, of the said de- 
fendant and within a few feet, to wit: ten feet of 
the said public crossing : which said engine or loco- 
motive was then under the control and management 
of the said defendant, its officers, servants and 



Some Experiences at the Bar 95 

employees. Nevertheless, the said defendant, its 
officers, servants and employees, so carelessly, 
negligently and improperly behaved and con- 
ducted itself in and about the management 
and control and direction of the said engine 
or locomotive, that the same by and through the 
default, carelessness, gross negligence, wilful and 
wanton recklessness, and improper conduct of the 
said defendant by its officers, servants and employ- 
ees, then and there with great force and violence, 
and with loud and hideous report and noise, was 
discharged of large volumes of steam, within a few 
feet, to wit: twenty feet of the said plaintiff; then, 
to wit: on the 23rd day of May, 1892, riding and 
passing as aforesaid, in and along the said public 
highway, in front of the said engine or locomotive, 
by means whereof the said horse became greatly 
frightened and uncontrollable and ran and drew 
said buggy over the said rough crossing, and over 
the banks and gullies along said highway, near 
said crossing, and threw said plaintiff with great 
force and violence from, off and out of said buggy, 
upon the ground, and by means of the premises 
aforesaid, the said plaintiff was greatly bruised, 
hurt and wounded, his left arm broken, his head 
dangerously split, cut, crushed and became and was 
sick, sore, lame and disordered, and so continued 
for a long space of time, to wit : hitherto, during all 



96 Random Recollections 

of wliich time the said plaintiff suffered great 
bodily and mental pain, and was hindered and pre- 
vented from performing and transacting liis lawful 
affairs, and business, and also by reason of the prem- 
ises has become obliged to pay and expend divers 
sums of monej^, in the whole amounting to a large 
sum, in and about the employment of nurses, medi- 
cines, simple and nourishing food, and in and about 
the endeavoring to get healed and cured of the said 
wounds, hurt, sickness, broken limb, and disorder, 
and great bodily suffering and mental anguish, he 
has sustained damages and is entitled to recover of 
the defendant company, $10,000. 

Many examples of unique testimony of witnesses 
might be given. In almost every case counsel for the 
plaintiff would make strenuous efforts to show the high 
rate of speed at which the train was traveling at the 
time of the accident. These efforts were always sec- 
onded in the most sympathetic spirit by the witnesses, 
who exhausted their store of illustrations in poi'traying 
its velocity. 

Thus an old farmer, in response to the usual ques- 
tion, affirmed: " She was running like a wild horse — 
she was running so fast that I thought she was running 
away." 



Some Experiences at the Bar 97 

]\lore figurative was the assertion of a witness who 
said: "She was going like Hght — just hke a bird 
through the air," 

But an old negro probably exceeded in dramatic 
force all these descriptions by his declaration : " De train 
was gwine dat fast dat it took two to see her ; one to 
say, ' Here she comes,' t'other to say, ' Dar she go ' ! " 

The idiosyncrasies of negro witnesses were sometimes 
illustrated in other ways than by the mere picturesque 
phraseology of their testimony. 

Thus upon one occasion, when a railroad company 
had been sued for injuries sustained by a traveler 
upon the highway while attempting at night to cross 
its track, the old colored watchman was placed upon 
the stand to establish the fact that he was diligently 
guarding the crossing, and had signaled with his 
lantern the approaching traveler to warn him of the 
danger of the on-coming train. 

This witness gave his evidence with so much apparent 
fairness, and yet with such great decision, that after 
his retirement from the stand he was complimented b}^ 
the counsel for the company upon his deportment while 
testifying. Turning to the counsel a most serious 
countenance, the old man said : " Yes, Marse John, I 



98 Random Recollections 

did de best I could, and I was tellin' de Gawd's truth 
when I said I waved dat lantern at dat man ; but I tell 
you I got monstrous skeered when dat lawj^er kep' 
axing me 'bout dat lantern and how often I waved it, 
'cause I was feered dat he was guine to ax me if dat 
lantern was lit." 

The distinguishing characteristic of this witness 
found its exact counterpart in another case where a 
negro employee had testified most volubly for the com- 
pany. On cross-examination the lawyer for the plain- 
tiff effectually destroyed the force of his evidence by 
the simple question, " You were sworn to tell the whole 
truth in this case, and I want to know whether you have 
as a fact given us the whole truth?" To which the 
witness replied, " Yes, sir, and a leetle de rise dereof." 

The testimony of learned experts was no less re- 
markable. Thus my friend Major Charles M. Black- 
ford, who filled the position of counsel for several rail- 
road companies, in a recent address, gives the following 
as a verbatim quotation from the evidence of a medical 
expert. In this case the plaintiff's face had been in- 
jured by coming in contact with the side of a bridge. 
The learned expert, for the enlightenment of the jury, 
made the following luminous explanation of the injury: 



Some Experiences at the Bar 99 

" The injury was caused by a blow from a blunt 
substance by which the tissue elements were rent 
asunder and there was a manifest external breach of 
tissue. The integument and the following muscles 
were involved, and the integument over the malar re- 
gion was ecchymosed, contused and lacerated. The 
muscles zygomatic major and minor, levator labii 
superioris alaeque nasi, and some other smaller ones 
were torn from their insertions and their integrity de- 
stroyed." 

Sometimes witnesses recounted incidents at once stir- 
ring and pathetic. 

Hanks Shelton, a splendid young engineer, had lost 
his life by falling between the moving cars of a freight 
train while walking at night over its top from the 
caboose to his engine. Suit was instituted against the 
railroad company, and as there was quite a dearth of 
evidence showing the company's liability, recourse was 
had to the familiar custom of introducing witnesses to 
testify to the great sufferings of the deceased, his 
good character and the dependency of his kindred left 
behind. 

The village doctor was called as a witness on the first 
point, and in response to questions from the plaintiff's 



100 Random Recollections 

counsel declared that the injuries were necessarily fatal, 
and that Shelton had lingered in great agony from 
midnight to dawn when he died. 

The counsel for the railroad company opened the 
cross-examination with the question : " Why did you 
permit Shelton thus to suffer — why was no opiate ad- 
ministered? " 

Like the unfortunate Mr. Phunky, whose untimclj" 
question wrought such havoc to his client's cause in 
the ever-memorable trial of Bardell v. Pickwick, we 
realized in a moment that the question ought not to 
have been asked, but too late to retract it. 

I will not attempt to give the Doctor's reply in his 
own words, but a free rendition of what he said was 
about as follows : 

" I was called to see Shelton soon after midnight. I 
found him lying upon a bench in the station at Fox 
Trap. His injuries were of such a character as not 
to permit his removal, so I made him as comfortable as 
I could by propping him up on a bundle of grain bags. 
A moment's examination convinced me that his injuries 
were fatal — indeed, I was convinced that the end could 
not be far off. I was preparing to administer some 
sedative, when Shelton drew my head down to him and 



Some Experiences at the Bar 101 

said, ' Doctor, how long can I live? ' I replied, ' Oh, I 
hope for a long, long time.' ' No,' he said ; ' I know 
I am bound to die. I am not afraid of that; I have 
been preparing for that for many years. But I have 
a sweetheart, who lives down the road, and if I can 
keep alive until morning she could come up on the early 
train.' I replied," said the Doctor, " that there was a 
chance of keeping him alive that long provided he could 
stand the pain, which would be greatly increased by the 
stimulants which I would have to administer. His face 
lit up with new life, and calling the depot agent to his 
side he dictated the telegram to the young lady. All 
during the night I sat by his side, and whenever I 
noticed any sign of collapse or disposition to sink into 
unconsciousness, I would administer stimulants — gener- 
ally whisky and quinine. Their effect was to stimulate 
Shelton and to bring on paroxysms of pain. He bore 
his sufferings with great heroism, and seemed only fear- 
ful that he would sink into unconsciousness before the 
time for the arrival of the up-train. It was a lonely 
vigil which 1 kept, the silence only broken by the click- 
ings of the telegraph instrument, the ticking of the 
station clock, the hoarse breathing of the dying man 
and his occasional inquiries as to the time and his con- 



102 Random Recollections 

dition. Toward the morning he revived sHghtly, and 
I could see that he was making a great effort to keep 
his faculties in hand. He made frequent requests for 
stimulants, though it was evident they rendered more 
terrible his physical sufferings. As the first rays of 
the sun streamed in through the window of the little 
room he murmured, ' Thank God. She cannot be far 
away.' A moment later he said, ' What is the exact 
time, Doctor ? ' ' Six fort}- -three,' I replied. ' The 
train is due at 6-49,' he murmured. The words were 
scarcely uttered when in the distance we both recognized 
the faint rumblings of the on-coming train. Nearer 
and nearer it came. At length the signal for the sta- 
tion sounded; then the creaking and clanging of the 
brakes, and finally the great locomotive stopped puffing 
and panting after its long race with death. 

" At that moment," continued the Doctor, " Shelton 
seemed animated with new life ; his face took on an ex- 
pression of intense resolution, and with a great effort 
he raised himself to a sitting posture, and fixed his 
eyes upon the door. In profound silence we waited — 
every moment fraught with peril, for the sands of his 
life were now running verj^ low. Then to my great 
relief a light footfall was heard on the plank walk ; the 



Some Eocperiences at the Bai' 103 

door opened ; a young woman, with pain-stricken face, 
entered, and with a murmured exclamation rushed to 
Shelton's side. He had only strength to fold his arms 
about her for a moment and hold her close to his breast. 

" Soon afterward," added the Doctor with a sigh, 
*• I laid him back upon the bench." 

The Doctor said no more, but the crowd which had 
listened so attentively to his narrative knew that Hanks 
Shelton's last run was made, and he had stalled his 
engine in the Roundhouse on the other side of the 
Great Divide. 

From many amusing reminiscences of speeches de- 
livered in railroad damage suits I record the following 
extracts : 

The plaintiff's arm had been injured while aboard 
defendant's train, by coming in contact with the side of 
a bridge. The claim was advanced that the bridge 
was so narrow and the track so rough that his arm was 
thrown out through the window, etc. The defendant 
insisted that the plaintiff had carelessly put his arm 
out of the window and hence the accident. 

This was the issue. One of the attorneys for the 



104 Random Recollections 

plaintiff was very active in proving that the size of the 
bridge had never been changed since its first erection, 
though the width of the cars had been greatly enlarged. 
He also developed the fact that at some time in the 
past two tramps had been killed by one of the defend- 
ant's trains in or near this bridge, and had been buried 
not far from that structure on the company's right-of- 
way. 

What the purpose of counsel was in pursuing this 
line of examination, developed when he came to address 
the jury. His allusion to these circumstances was about 
as follows : 

" We have shown you, Gentlemen of the Jury, by 
the evidence of witnesses whose high integrity even this 
defendant had not the temerity to assail, that years and 
years ago this bridge across Frying-pan Creek was 
erected; that since that time the engines and cars in 
use by this defendant have steadily grown in width and 
weight, and that no corresponding enlargement of the 
size of this bridge has been made, but it has stood, and 
still stands — too small by far for the uses for which it 
was originally constructed — a menace to man and an 
affront to the Deity. Larger and larger have grown 
the width of their cars until I feel warranted in saying 



Some Experiences at the Bar 105 

that every train which leaves the City of Richmond 
bound for Danville has to be greased from cow-catcher 
to back platform in order to squeeze it through that 
miserable bridge. But, Gentlemen of the Jury, the 
evidence further demonstrates that the defendant not 
only maintains this man-trap, in flagrant violation of 
every obligation to its passengers and our people, but 
it has added insult to injury by establishing on its right- 
of-way, near the mouth of this open sepulcher, a grave- 
yard. Yes, I repeat, a private graveyard ; so that with 
the least trouble to itself it can bury the mangled forms 
of its victims. How many of our people have been 
thus done to death we shall never know until the Judg- 
ment. We do know, however, by the evidence which this 
plaintiff has adduced in this case, that at least two un- 
fortunates have been killed and buried. That the 
plaintiff* himself did not share a like fate I must ascribe 
to a merciful interposition of Providence, rather than 
to any solicitude for his safety on the part of this de- 
fendant, its officers and employees. And this reflection 
leads me. Gentlemen of the Jury, to inquire who is the 
directing spirit — who the master hand that manages 
the affairs of this great corporation? The time was 
when men to the manor born — bone of our bone and 



106 Random Recollections 

flesh of our flesh — were the officers of the Richmond & 
Danville Railroad. Into their sympathetic ears our 
people were accustomed to pour their complaints, which 
always received the kindest consideration. But those 
days have, unfortunately for 3^ou and me, long since 
passed. A new type of men now control the aff'airs 
of this railroad company. Who are they? I repeat. 
Where is the home and what the name of the master 
spirit.'' Way up yonder somewhere in the frigid re- 
gions of the North he lives. What is his name.? I am 
frank to say I never saw the man. I venture to say 
that not a member of this intelligent jury ever saw the 
man. I go further and affirm that his Honor — the 
learned Judge of this Court — never saw the man. But 
though we have never seen him, the evidence in this case 
convinces me that he is one of your white-livered, un- 
feeling specimens, so cold-blooded that were you to 
cut him open on the fifteenth of July you would find 
icicles hanging from his heart as long as my walking 
cane." 

A little negro girl had been struck by a train on 
which the general officers of the company were inspect- 
ing one of its branch roads. The injury was not seri- 



Some Eocperiences at the Bar 107 

ous, as the train had been almost brought to a stand- 
still at the time of the accident. The claim was asserted 
that the engineer could have stopped the train sooner 
by a more careful outlook and a more vigorous use of 
the emergency brakes, etc. 

One of the counsel for the plaintiff brought out from 
the engineer that he had taken his dinner on the day 
of the accident with the General Manager in the lat- 
ter's private car ; that soon after dinner the train passed 
Smithville and the engineer had not noticed a small 
m.ountain just outside that village. In his speech be- 
fore the jury this attorney thus referred to these facts: 

" The explanation of this deplorable accident, 
Gentlemen of the Jury, is to be found in the evidence 
which I wrung from the reluctant lips of Woolwine, the 
engineer of that train. You heard him make the sig- 
nificant admission that on the day of this accident he ate 
his dinner with the General Manager. It was indeed a 
glorious day for old Woolwine. Not for him the food 
and drink Avhich ordinary mortals in this land are glad 
to get, but there amid the luxurious surroundings of the 
General Manager's private car he dined upon such 
viands and wines as the people of this section never see. 
The products of every clime were laid under tribute to 



108 Bandom Recollections 

furnish forth that feast. Fish from the seas, mutton 
from the plains, fruits from the tropics, and ices from 
the frigid zone, gladdened the eye and tickled the palate 
of Woolwine, But above and beyond these choice vi- 
ands were the wines, whiskies and cordials whose aroma 
and flavor pass man's understanding. Old Madeira 
with the cobwebs of ages wreathing its brow, Scotch 
and Bourbon whiskies mellow with years, and Apple 
Jack fragrant beyond the breath of flowers. When old 
Woolwine mounted his engine, mystified by the eff^ul- 
gence which streamed from the person of the General 
Manager, and befuddled by the numerous potations 
which he had imbibed, he was ready to be translated. 
Pulling open the throttle he said, ' Let her go ! The 
earth is ours and the fullness thereof ! ' He did not see 
the mountain just outside of Smithville! Of course he 
did not. He had dined with the General Manager and 
was now hauling that potentate in his palace car. He 
did not see the little girl, the plaintiff" in this case ! Of 
course not. He had no eyes for the humble things of 
earth. But, Gentlemen of the Jury, had he seen her, 
playing in simple innocence upon the track, unmindful 
of her danger, do you believe he would have applied at 
once the emergency brake and with a great jerk and 



Some Eooperieiices at the Bar 109 

impact brought the train to a standstill? No. Back 
jonder in the silken recesses of his palace car was the 
General Manager taking his afternoon nap, or perhaps 
regaling himself with his Havana cigar, and with 
Woolwine the great consideration was the comfort of 
the General Manager. And so when he saw the plain- 
tiff before him on the track (if indeed he was in a con- 
dition to see her at all), he said, ' No emergency brake 
for me ! Rather than rudely disturb the General Man- 
ager, or knock the ashes from his Havana cigar, I will 
kill every nigger in Mecklenburg ! ' " 

As showing that this style of oratory was not the 
peculiar possession of attorneys appearing against rail- 
roads, I will give one more example, along with the 
reply made by the counsel for the company. 

Matthew Motley, an old colored man, had been killed 
at night by a freight train. The afternoon of his 
death he had received his week's pay and had, it was 
supposed, invested too much of his earnings in whisky, 
and hence his predicament — asleep on the railroad track 
at the time of his death. He left a widow and four 
small children. Suit was instituted, claiming negli- 
gence on the part of the engineer in not sooner dis- 



110 Random Recollections 

covering Motley upon the track and avoiding the acci- 
dent by stopping his train. 

One of the counsel for the plaintiff made a most fer- 
vid and extended argument before the jury, portions 
of which I will endeavor to recall : 

" Let me pause, Gentlemen of the Jury, at the out- 
set of our consideration, to note the parties to this liti- 
gation. On the one hand we have the widow and infant 
children of our former county-man, the lamented 
Matthew Motley. They come before the Court in their 
habiliments of mourning, spent with the loss of tears, 
and yet strong in the consciousness of the rectitude of 
their cause. Like many of our people they are poor, 
and like others, not a few, they are humble. 

" Yet, as I look into the honest faces of this intel- 
ligent jury, I am persuaded that neither their poverty 
nor the humble walks of life from which they come, will 
deprive them and their cause of that consideration 
which they so richly merit. They have not the adven- 
titious aids of unlimited wealth and powerful friends, 
but they stand before you — this weeping widow and 
these wailing orphans — a perfect type of humility 
linked with right. I thank God that in this old land 
of ours we still have tribunals where the weak and poor 



Some Experiences at the Bar 111 

are not debarred their rights, but that jurors are quick 
to recognize and vindicate their cause. 

" Who is the other party to this contest ? The Rich- 
mond & Danville Railroad Company, a great corpora- 
tion whose plethoric treasury commands the ablest coun- 
sel in the land and whose appliances of transportation 
and communication — strong as steam and swift as 
light — enable it to marshal at a moment's notice, from 
the uttermost parts of the earth, clouds of witnesses to 
maintain their contentions. Chartered by the general 
assembly of our State to construct a railroad from Rich- 
mond to Danville, it has, through its greed for gain, 
rested not until it has permeated with its lines every 
part of this country. Its Briarian arms stretch out to 
clasp the commerce of the continent, while its manifold 
and malign influences are felt in every avenue of en- 
deavor and every seat of power. With one arm it 
touches the great City of Washington where, in the 
corridors of the Capitol, it is holding conferences with 
Senators and Congressmen — plotting against the rights 
and liberties of the people of this land. With another 
arm it seeks the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, 
while with still another it reaches out to the golden 
sands of the Pacific. With the influences which shape 



112 Random Recollections 

public opinion, with the men who make our laws, with 
the jurists who control the Courts, the owners of this 
veritable Frankenstein are all-potential. I take heart, 
however, when I recall that despite its power in some 
forums, the Honorable Judge who presides over this 
Court is impervious to its smiles and regardless of its 
frowns. 

" These, Gentlemen of the Jury, are the parties to 
this contest. As I have said, you have on one hand the 
victims of this defendant's arrogance and power, 
weakened it is true by the very act of which they com- 
plain, for the head of their house — the husband of this 
widow and the father of these orphans — has been laid 
low in death. The author of this cruel wrong stands 
before you and seeks through its ill-gotten gains and 
power to escape the penalty which it so justly deserves. 
It is, comparatively speaking, an unequal contest, but 
I advance to the conflict without fear as to the result, 
for this intelligent jury shall declare the judgment and 
a just God will defend the right. 

" I have thought. Gentlemen of the Jury, that as 
Matthew Motley on the evening of that fatal day set 
out along this railroad track for his humble home, that 
some reflections of the prestige and power of this de- 



Some Experiences at the Bar 113 

fendant may have passed through his mind, and yet I 
am sure that with it came the cheering thought that no 
matter how high it might pile its wealth or how arro- 
gant it might be in closing the avenues of human en- 
deavor, there were still left, even to the humblest citi- 
zen, comforts and joys far beyond its power to make or 
mar. And as he drew nearer and nearer the humble 
cottage where was centered so much that was dear to 
him, he doubtless felt great thankfulness that there, 
close at hand, secure to him, were the joys of wife, and 
home and little ones. Stronger and stronger arose this 
beautiful vision as through the darkening twilight 
gleamed the lights from his humble home. Then I 
doubt not upon his memory there broke the beautiful 
lines of John Howard Payne: 

" ' 'Mid pleasures and palaces where'er we may 
roam. 
Be it ever so humble, there 's no place like home.' 

" And as he drew still nearer to his roof-tree, where 
wife and little ones were eager to greet him, he heard 
the welcome bark of his faithful watch-dog, and there 
came to his mind the well-remembered words of the great 
Bvron: 



114 Random Recollections 

" ' 'T is sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark, 
Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near 
home.' 

" But this beautiful vision and all these joys so near 
at hand were destined to vanish ' like the snowfall in 
the river,' and even while he contemplated the sweetness 
and blessedness of home and wife and little ones, this 
defendant with its cruel engine swept down upon him, 
and in a moment light was turned to darkness, joy to 
sorrow, and life to death. 

" What is the plea that the author of this cruel wrong 
makes before this jury? It is really, my countrymen, 
an appeal for mercy. Why should mercy be extended 
it? Has its conduct in the past been marked by that 
divine attribute? What was its conduct with respect 
to this humble citizen, whose death we so deplore to- 
day? ^Vhat has been its treatment of the heavy-bur- 
dened farmers of this country, you and I, Gentlemen 
of the Jury, in the matter of freight rates and train ac- 
commodations? What has been its position with re- 
spect to the oppressive legislation forced upon us by 
plutocrats and goldbugs? In each and every instance 
its influence and policy has been against the people. 



Some Experiences at the Bar 115 

Its plethoric treasury bursts with tribute exacted from 
the people of this and adjoining sections. Its arro- 
gance has been unblushing, and only when brought be- 
fore an honest jury does it evince signs of sorrow and 
make promises of reform. In the great crime of 1873, 
when Silver — the poor man's friend, and the dollar of 
our father's — was stricken down by an assassin blow, 
the representatives and managers of this great corpo- 
ration were aiders and abettors of the crime. To-day 
alone, and in the presence of this righteous and fearless 
tribunal, have I heard from the lips of its apologists 
sentiments of regret and promises to amend. But, 
Gentlemen of the Jury, we are not to be deceived by 
such assurances. We know alas ! too well, that the de- 
fendant is a corporation, an artificial person, if I may 
so express it, whose promises cannot be enforced and the 
violation of which entails no penalty. It has no soul to 
save nor body to burn. Its death-bed repentance, 
therefore, can avail it nothing. It has but one nerve 
that is susceptible to feeling, and that is the pocket- 
nerve. An award of damages will alone teach it to re- 
spect the rights of the people of this country. Damages 
alone will help this weeping widow to provide for these 
tender orphans, whose natural protector has been 



116 Random Recollections 

snatched away by the unfeehng act of this defendant. 
A verdict at your hands, Gentlemen of the Jury, for 
heavy damages will teach this arrogant corporation 
that there is a God in Israel ; that despite its wealth it 
is not supreme, and that with a jury of honest men the 
claims of right and justice will be vindicated. 

" Matthew Motley is dead. You cannot bring him 
back. You cannot stop the tears which bedim the C3'es 
of his weeping widow and wailing orphans, but you can, 
by a verdict for suitable damages in this cause, make 
some provision for their temporal wants, curb the negli- 
gence and lawlessness of this defendant, protect the 
people of your county, and above all uphold the law 
and vindicate the cause of right and justice! " 

I had as my associate a gentleman " to the manor- 
born." Acquainted with the people of the vicinage, 
their sympathies, habits of thought and modes of liv- 
ing, he was verily a knight worthy any antagonist be- 
fore a jury of his county-men. His keen sense of 
humor was only equaled by the genial spirit which ani- 
mated his kindly heart. To his gentle memory I offer 
the homage of my sincerest regards. 

Just before counsel for plaintiff concluded his speech, 
I suggested to my associate that I thought it best that 
he should make the reply. With a look of growing dc- 



■ Some Eccperiences at the Bar 117 

fiance in his eye, he said, " I will do it, and I will pay 
him off in his own coin." 

From my recollections of his speech I record the fol- 
lowing extracts: 

" We have just listened. Gentlemen of the Jury, to 
one of the most remarkable displays of oratory it has 
ever been my fortune to hear in this ancient Court- 
house. With a pathos teeming with tears, and a eulo- 
gistic eloquence worthy of the loftiest man of all time, 
the learned counsel has portrayed the virtues and 
achievements of the ' lamented Matthew Motley.' Who 
was this honored citizen, whose untimely end, he in- 
forms us, we so much deplore to-day.'^ Why, Gentle- 
men of the Jury, despite the eulogies of counsel, you 
and I know that he was a drunken ' nigger,' as shiftless 
and worthless as ever walked the public roads of this 
county. Old Matt Motley ! So good-for-nothing 
that he could not die a natural death, but it took a 
railroad train to kill him — he in verity is the individual 
referred to by the counsel. I am satisfied neither the 
wife of his bosom nor the officers of the law, who have 
frequently arrested him for petty offenses, would ever 
have recognized old Matt in the heroic figure which 
has been pictured before us. 

" From this same reliable source, the imagination of 



118 Random Recollections 

counsel, wc are told that this lamented individual, hav- 
ing collected his weekly wage, was returning home, 
where amid the caresses of his devoted wife and children 
he would lavish upon them the comforts which his faith- 
ful toil had provided. Now, Gentlemen of the Jury, 
you and I know, and the evidence in this case confirms 
our kn^vledge, that old Matt, as was his custom, had 
probably spent the larger part of his earnings on the 
evening in question in mean whisky ; and that, filled 
with decoctions warranted to kill at a distance any 
ordinary man, he felt like whipping his weight in wild- 
cats, and was staggering homeward, no doubt, to beat 
his adoring wife with a barrel-stave. She was waiting 
to greet him, was she.'* with a warmth of tenderness 
beyond the poet's dream? Why, as a matter of fact, 
his arrival at that cabin would strike terror to its in- 
mates, and the news of his departure hurt no hearts, 
save those conjured up in the brilliant imagination of 
counsel for plaintiff. 

" But our eloquent friend would have us believe that 
just before the moment of his death old Matthew was 
'homeward plodding his weary way,' his heart filled with 
love and his mind aglow with the sweet verses of that 
gentle Bard whose ode to ' Home ' has been loved and 



So7ne Eooperiences at the Bar 119 

sung in every clime. I do not believe, Gentlemen of the 
Jury, that that old darkey ever heard of John Howard 
Payne or his beautiful lines. But suppose we admit that 
such was the case. Don't you know that instead of re- 
peating those incomparable verses with the beauty and 
expression with which the accomplished counsel recited 
them, he mumbled them among his drunken hiccoughs 
somewhat after the following fashion, as he staggered 
on over those cross-ties towards his home : 

" ' 'Mid pleasures (hie) and palaces (hie) 
Where'er we may r-o-a-m. 
Be it ever so humble (hie), 
There is no (hie) place like h-o-m-e.' 

"But, Gentlemen of the Jury, not content with de- 
faming the sacred memory of that blessed poet by put- 
ting his beautiful lines into the mouth of this drunken 
vagabond, this attorney has gone further and affirms 
that the famous apostrophe of the immortal Byron to 
the ' watch-dog ' was also upon his lips ; that as Motley 
drew near his cabin a noble dog stood forth to bid him 
lordly welcome. Now, my countrymen, I charge you 
to remember that there is no evidence in this case that 
there was any dog there at all ! But suppose it be 



120 Random Recollections 

conceded that there was a dog. Don't you know that 
instead of some noble mastiff, such as awoke the poesy 
of the immortal bard, it was some durn little yallow 
cur-dog, such as you and I have often seen running 
around negro cabins making more fuss than a mill- 
clapper. And so, Gentlemen, when we come down from 
the realms of fancy into which the gentleman's eloquence 
has carried us, we find that this is simply a case where 
a worthless vagabond, having drunken more tangle-foot 
whisky than he could conveniently carry, staggers out 
upon a railroad track, and proceeds to take his evening 
nap with a rail for his pillow and a tic for his bed. 
Gentlemen, that railroad was not constructed for that 
purpose. The commerce of the continent (to which 
counsel refers), the mail facilities of the Federal 
Government, the legions of passengers bent upon mis- 
sions of business, pleasure or sorrow, cannot be held in 
check while Matt Motley and the likes of him appropri- 
ate the railroad tracks of this country to sleep off their 
drunken debauches. Ah, but they say that our en- 
gineer should have stopped his train. So say I, if he 
had seen old Matt, or had known he was there. But 
how could he see him at the dread hour of midnight, 
when a pall of inky darkness covered the land, and his 



Some Eooperiences at the Bar 121 

train dashing with Hghtning speed around a curve? 
It was not in the power of mortal man to see that sleep- 
ing form upon the track. It is admitted that he had 
no reason to suppose that Matt Motley would prefer 
the stony bed of a railroad track as his place of rest, 
rather than the gentle home whose joys have been so 
depicted in your hearing by counsel for plaintiff. The 
engineer could not see him, because the evidence estab- 
lished that in addition to the darkness Matt had selected 
the end of a curve in the track as his place of repose. 
Not since the immortal Samuel Weller described upon 
the witness-stand the difficulties of discerning with one's 
ordinary eyes any object around a comer has the claim 
been advanced that such a feat was feasible, until it 
was made by counsel here to-day. Before such a jury 
as this which I have the honor to address, I need 
scarcely say that this argument may excite your ris- 
ibles, but can never appeal to your judgment. 

" Despairing of grounds to recover by virtue of any 
strength in his client's cause, the learned counsel seeks 
to arouse your prejudices by depicting alleged crimes 
of which this defendant has been guilty. First and 
foremost he charges that its representatives and friends 
were at least particeps criminis to the great crime of 



122 Random Recollections 

1873 — the demonetization of silver. I indignantly 
deny the charge ! There is no evidence before this 
jury — yea, there is none that can be adduced to sup- 
port such an indictment. I stand here to-day — with 
my valued associate, the representative of this rail- 
road — before this Court. My opinions upon that 
and upon all other questions of public import, are not 
unknown to the people of this county. Were I dis- 
posed to disregard the proprieties of this occasion 
and to follow the learned gentleman in his unseemly 
search for sympath}^, I too might proclaim myself an 
advocate of Free Silver ! Yes, silver in easy reach 
of the humblest citizen of this grand old common- 
wealth ! 

" And so, Gentlemen of the Jury, we could follow the 
counsel in all his migrations from the case, but time 
will not permit, nor do the interests of my client re- 
quire. You will allow me, however, to say in closing, 
that if by any possibility you should so far forget 
your senses as to return a verdict in this case in favor 
of this plaintiff, the learned counsel who has addressed 
you will put one half of it way down in his breeches 
pocket, and his associate, my learned friend, will put 
the other half way down in his breeches pocket, and 



Some Experiences at the Bar 123 

then old man Motley's ' weeping widow ' and ' wailing 
orphans' can go to Hades." 

The foregoing examples of speeches made in railway 
damage suits must not, of course, be considered as 
typical of those delivered in all such cases. They are 
simply amusing instances which, because of their 
uniqueness and humor, I have thought it worth while to 
record. 

Of the Virginia lawyer I have the warmest apprecia- 
tion. His high estimate of the profession; his pride 
in the intellectual achievements of his confreres, past 
and present ; the mingled humor and seriousness with 
which he meets its responsibilities, — all serve to render 
him a most attractive personality, and to lift his 
avocation far above the prosaic plane of a mere 
bread-winning occupation. The changes inseparable 
from our modem life must leave their impress upon 
him. The advent of the stenographer, type-writer, 
telephone and file-case, will contribute to the despatch 
of business and the more orderly conduct of affairs 
committed to his charge, but with respect to many 
weightier matters we may hope that the old order will 
survive. Thus, he may forbear to write with his own 



124 Random Recollections 

hand in unintelligible characters his legal documents, 
and to find a more suitable file-case for his papers than 
his silk hat or coat pocket; and yet we trust his sim- 
plicity and genuineness of character will remain un- 
changed. More and more he must bear a part in the 
strictly business life of his day, but let us hope that his 
idealism will not be destroyed amid this new environ- 
ment. The magnitude of the financial interests which 
he guards, and the exacting demands of corporations, 
may tend to limit his time and specialize his sympathies, 
yet may he continue to recognize the obligations, liter- 
ary, political and social, which have heretofore adorned 
his life and enriched his country. Among the legal 
digests hot from the press, which crowd his library 
shelves, we would find as of yore copies of Addison, 
Macaulay and Horace; and his standards of authority 
for all the great emergencies of life, whether individual 
or social, remain the Virginia Bill of Rights, the Federal 
Constitution, and the Bible. 




CHAPTER VI 

Some Excursions into Politics 




CANNOT remember the time when I did 
not feel an interest in pohtics. Long 
before I had any well-defined idea of the 
principles for which contending parties 
stood, I was a loyal adherent of my side ; 
and long before I had any clear appreciation of what 
might follow my Party's success, I was ready and will- 
ing to spend and be spent to secure its triumph. Doubt- 
less much of this feeling resulted from the abnormal 
conditions existing in Virginia at the time my boyish 
mind first began to realize the existence of political 
parties and the meaning of the varying rallying cries 
which held their adherents. With me it was an im- 
pression derived from sight rather than hearing. I 
may not have understood the political questions at issue, 

125 



126 Random Recollections 

but I could see and appreciate the personnel of the two 
opposing forces. On the one hand were marshaled my 
own kith and kin, the men of my own land and lineage ; 
on the other, a great mass of newly manumitted slaves 
— led by ahens — with here and there some worthy 
Virginian whose presence among them only served to 
emphasize the repellent characteristics of his associ- 
ation. 

Doubtless my youthful interest even antedated the 
formation of organized political parties, for during the 
period immediately following the Civil War there were, 
strictly speaking, no organized political parties in Vir- 
ginia. From 1865 to 1870 the whole population — 
wliite and black — was disfranchised, and the State 
governed from Washington as Military District No. 1. 
When under the provisions of the Federal Legislation, 
so curiously styled " Reconstruction," the State was re- 
admitted into the Union, the shibboleths and sentiments 
which usually divided thoughtful men as Whigs, Demo- 
crats or Republicans were subordinated in the supreme 
desire to save the political, economic and social life of 
the Commonwealth from the disasters which would fol- 
low the rule of ignorance and venality. 

In furtherance of this idea, the candidates nomi- 



Some Excursions into Politics 127 

nated by the Democratic Party were retired and a new 
organization effected, composed of Whigs, Democrats, 
Union men, Secessionists, and Repubhcans not a few, 
who nominated as their standard-bearers for the posi- 
tions of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, Gilbert C. 
Walker of Binghamton, New York, who had come to 
Virginia in the wake of the Federal Army, and John 
F. Lewis, a Virginian, who both before and during the 
Civil War had been a staunch Union man. Arrayed 
against them were Henry H. Wells, also a non-resident 
of the State, and a negro whose name has escaped my 
memory. 

This organization which nominated Walker and 
Lewis was called " The Conservative Party," and to its 
formation and the consequent triumph which followed 
the movement at the polls Virginia was indebted for her 
exemption from the humiliations and excesses which 
afflicted so many of the Southern States. 

I have anticipated, however, in time some of the remi- 
niscences and happenings of that period to which I 
first alluded: to wit, the years between Appomattox 
and Virginia's readmission into the Union. These were 
days fruitful of trouble and forebodings to the white 
people of the State, while the blacks as a rule were 



128 Random Recollections 

celebrating their recent emancipation and the coming 
of still greater political powers with a joyous and care- 
less abandon so characteristic of that childlike race. 
These celebrations, as I remember them, generally took 
the form of marching processions in which thousands 
of negroes would participate. As if to provide some 
semblance of organization, there quickly arose all sorts 
of Societies, Lodges and Associations. The names of 
some of these orders are suggestive — " The Rising 
Sons of Ham," " Workers in the Lord's Vineyard,'* 
" Galilean Fishennen " and " Stars of Hope." I have 
no distinct remembrance of anything these societies 
ever accomplished, except the celebrations and proces- 
sions above cited. On these occasions the blowing of 
fifes, the beating of drums and the marching of dusky 
columns, marshaled by officers bedecked with flowing 
sashes of red or blue calico and mounted on old horses 
of attenuated frames, were the predominating charac- 
teristics. 

The recurring anniversar}'^ of emancipation, or the 
ratification by the respective States of the various 
amendments to the Federal Constitution, all furnished 
occasions for separate celebrations. I recall with 
amused interest the remark of an aged Virginian, who 



Some Excursions into Politics 129 

ill company with a Northern friend was stopped by a 
negro procession which filled the street over which they 
desired to pass. With some touch of impatience the 
latter inquired as to the meaning of the demonstration. 
'* Oh ! Another damned amendment to the Constitu- 
tion, I suppose ! " responded the Virginian. 

These Lodges and Societies afterward played an 
important part in the political career of the negroes, 
for it was there that they were drilled and schooled 
to play their parts as voters. And here it may be re- 
marked that the world has never produced a voter so 
unquestioning in his devotion to his Party, or a system 
which so enabled that vote to be deposited and counted. 
In grateful recognition of the privilege conferred, and 
in dread apprehension lest it might be destroyed by the 
advent to power of a Party inimical to his rights, the 
negro never missed an election nor ever failed to vote 
the " ticket as printed." To these influences might be 
superadded the power of the Church, Lodges and Socie- 
ties, of which he was invariably a member. A failure 
to vote the " ticket as printed " would bring upon the 
delinquent excommunication and ostracism from these 
much-valued associations. The system in vogue as sug- 
gested was most conducive to the plan of securing a 



130 Random Recollections 

vote from every negro without reference to his capacity 
to know the names of the candidates or offices to whicli 
they aspired. The tickets in use were printed by each 
Party, and in the case of the negroes were never dis- 
tributed, but deposited with the leader at each precinct, 
who held the tickets within a foot of the ballot-box, 
and no negro was permitted to vote, as far as the i. 
fluences above mentioned could control, except a tickex 
presented him by this holder, who watched it with eagle- 
eye from the moment it left his hand until it was safely 
deposited in the box. In later years one of the favorite 
devices of the opposition was to buy the ticket-holder, 
who would substitute, all unknowing to his dupes, 
tickets of exact form and appearance, but with the 
names of the rival candidates printed thereon. 

This solidarity among the negroes was not effectually 
broken until the second election of Mr. Cleveland con- 
vinced them that the muniments of their privileges 
would not be affected by the success or failure of any 
political Party in Federal elections. The growing de- 
termination of the whites to secure the control of the 
government by one means or another had also the effect 
of depriving elections of the interest and attraction 
with which they were once Invested to these new-born 
suffragants. 



Some Excursions into Politics 131 

I would not be understood in recording these recol- 
lections as thereby evincing unfriendly feeling toward 
the negroes. On the contrary, my sentiments toward 
tliem are and always have been of the kindliest charac- 
ter. The history of the world does not present such 
instances of friendship and devotion as that evinced 
by this race to the white women and children of the 
South wliile the men were absent from home fighting 
battles, the results of which it was then thought would 
determine the question of their freedom or bondage. 
Xor do I think their political conduct during the time 
referred to is to be wondered at. The greater wonder 
is, that with the powers placed in their hands, and 
under the leadership and instigation of the false or de- 
luded friends b}^ whom they were surrounded, they did 
not proceed to even greater lengths. It would have 
been a step fraught with infinite danger to have in- 
trusted the responsibilities of government to a race 
whose only preparation had been centuries of savagery 
and two hundred years of slavery, even if they alone 
had been concerned; but when it is recalled that by 
their enfranchisement they were made the political 
masters of the white race in every locality where they 
represented a majority, the difficulties and dangers of 
the situation are made manifest. Add to all this the 



132 Random Recollections 

fact that they were called upon to perform the duties 
of citizenship, and in many instances the role of political 
masters, in a country denuded of its wealth and bereft 
b}' war of a large part of its white male population ; the 
still further fact that their relations with their white 
neighbors had been either the traditional enmity exist- 
ing between the slaves and the non-slaveholding whites, 
or that of servant and master; and the full character 
of the trying and exasperating conditions surrounding 
the situation will be appreciated. 

I will not burden my narrative, however, with any 
attempt at a full recital of the political conditions and 
happenings of the times referred to. That they were 
without parallel in the world's history will be readily 
appreciated. The political, economic and social dis- 
orders which followed, and the eventual restoration to 
power of the intelligent and property-owning cjasses 
of the community, are facts of contemporary history. 
The white people of the Virginia Peninsula, however, 
at the time of which I write, could not discern any such 
propitious future. For many years after they were 
accorded the right of representative government, they 
were so outnumbered by the blacks that their Congress- 
man was a " carpet-bagger " named Piatt, and their 



Some Excursions into Politics 133 

representatives at Richmond in the Senate and House 
of Delegates were both negroes. 

Despite the great majority which the negroes pos- 
sessed in that locahty the whites were vigilant and active 
in bringing out their voters at every election. My first 
political service was in carrying an old gentleman 
afflicted with rheumatism to a polling-place located 
many miles from his home. I remember with what pride 
on my return I proclaimed the fact that every white 
man registered at the precinct had voted — my decrepit 
charge enabling the leaders to make that proud boast. 
As the negroes in that particular precinct outnumbered 
the whites by a majority of over three to one, the energy 
of my friends and myself did not avail much. 

From this my first experience as a political worker, 
taken in connection with many forms of service subse- 
quently rendered, I am convinced that no one can feel 
the warmest sense of loyalty and devotion for his Party 
who has not sturdily borne his share in the labor neces- 
sary to achieve its victories. As the men constituting 
the athletic teams which represent the several colleges 
of our land, or who cheer from the bleacheries the fel- 
lows who bear their college colors, feel for their Alma 
Mater a devotion which the mere book-loving student 



134 Random Recollections 

can never know, so the veteran who has learned to love 
his Party by fighting its battles in the preliminaries 
and at the polls, feels a devotion for the organization 
and a nearness to every man in the ranks which no mere 
theorist of government can ever realize. If he has suf- 
fered the pangs of fatigue, if his face has been burned 
with explosions from powder in celebrating its victories, 
or his back drenched with coal-oil as he bore aloft in 
some parade his torch to swell the number and glories 
of his Party's legions, all these circumstances will add 
to the fervor of his interest and to the unction with 
which he insists that in the distribution of honors in the 
hour of victory only the veterans from the ranks shall 
be placed on guard. 

Among the earliest indications of my interest in 
politics I recall the payment of a small portion of my 
hard-earned savings for the subscription to the weekly 
edition of the " Richmond Enquirer." I cannot re- 
member why I was induced to subscribe to this particu- 
lar paper, though it was doubtless the traditions which 
had come down to me of its influence and power when 
Thomas Richie was its editor, and of the faithful 
thousands who found in its columns the inspiration of 
their political conduct. Probably no more suggestive 



So7ne Excursions into Politics 135 

incident can be recalled of the influence of this journal 
and its wide-spread circulation among the country folk 
of Virginia than that recorded of the worthy parson, 
who in addressing his hearers with the " Parable of the 
Prodigal Son " as his text, pictured the circumstance 
of the returning wanderer as follows : 

"Ah, my brethren, what a homelike picture was that 
which greeted this wayworn traveler from the far 
country ! As he drew near to the scenes of his child- 
hood and stood once more within sight of his dear old 
home, what was the picture which gladdened his eyes? 
V^hy ! there upon the front porch sat his old father, 
smoking his after-dinner pipe, and reading a copy of 
the ' Richmond Enquirer! ' " 

I do not know that I garnered any great store of 
political wisdom from my perusal of the columns of the 
" Enquirer," but I at least formed some estimate of the 
position and character of the leading public men then 
playing their parts in the history of the country. I 
regarded them with much the same interest that a 
horseman studies the pedigree and follows the careers of 
notable racers, and so I learned in time the influences — 
personal and political — which had brought them to the 
front, and could cast with some degree of accuracy the 



136 Random Recollections 

horoscope of their future. The two men in pubhc hfe 
who most enhsted my admiration were Thomas F. Bay- 
ard of Delaware and Allen G. Thurman of Ohio. I 
also watched with great interest the careers of Roscoe 
Conkling, Benjamin H. Hill, James G. Blaine, James A. 
Garfield, Samuel J. Tilden and L. Q. C. Lamar. 

My appreciation of political conditions and the atti- 
tude of the two great national parties of the country 
became better defined with the passing years, and so in 
1876 when I bade adieu to my Alma Mater I felt quite 
qualified to enlighten the public with respect to the 
issues of the day- At least this was my estimate of the 
situation. Accordingly in the fall of that year, and in 
the memorable contest between Tilden and Hendricks 
and Hayes and Wheeler, I made my first appearance 
as a political speaker. The place of this deliverance 
was a small hamlet in the County of Botetourt, and my 
long-suffering audience was composed of the worthy 
sons and daughters of the neighborhood. I think I 
alluded to them in the opening sentences of my speech 
as " the beauty and chivalry of the grand old County 
of Botetourt, who, conscious of their country's peril, 
have come forward impelled by considerations of the 
highest patriotism to take counsel for its safety-." I 



Some Excursions into Politics 137 

cannot remember anything that I said except that I 
rung the changes on " Tilden, Hendricks and Reform," 
which was the favorite slogan in that campaign. I 
recall too, that in concluding my remarks I assured 
the astonished feminine element of my audience that 
niy candidate for the Presidency, Mr. Tilden, was a 
bachelor, and that when he should have been installed 
in the White House he would naturally look for some 
gentle partner to share its glories, and that I was satis- 
fied that nowhere on the habitable globe could he find 
one of fairer mien than among the winsome maidens of 
that locality. This deliverance, as I remember, brought 
me great applause — whether because of the anticipa- 
tions thus held out or the far-fetched character of the 
suggestion I never stopped to inquire. 

With my admission to the Bar, like all young law- 
yers, especially in the country districts of Virginia, I 
was frequently called upon to make speeches upon all 
sorts of subjects and on every imaginable occasion. To 
have refused these invitations would have deprived me of 
the privilege of securing a better acquaintance with the 
populace, or forced me to confess that there was at least 
one subject with respect to which I could not speak. 
Thus I not infrequently, despite my youth and scanty 



138 Random Recollections 

store of information, delivered addresses at school and 
college commencements, at the reunion of Confederate 
veterans, at barbecues, tournaments and the like. 

I recall with amused interest my first experience as a 
tournament orator. Strange as it may seem, I had 
never attended a tournament in Virginia, though they 
were of frequent happening throughout the State. 
My ideas, therefore, of tournaments were gathered 
from Tennyson's " Idylls of the King," Scott's " Ivan- 
hoe," and the grandiloquent descriptions of those held 
in Virginia which appeared from time to time in the 
daily press. When I received an invitation therefore 
to deliver what was called " The Charge to the 
Knights," I set about the preparation of my oration 
with the picture of a scene in m}'^ mind such as that 
which was witnessed at Camelot when the knights of 
King Arthur's Round Table strove with one another 
in sight of the beauties of his famous court. Steeped 
in this spirit, I spent many hours in the preparation 
of this address, and my horror can be better imagined 
than described when on the day in question I was pre- 
sented to deliver my oration amid conditions utterly at 
variance with my preconceived notions of the scene. 
Arranged in a semicircle around a wagon, from which 



Some Excursions into Politics 139 

I was expected to speak, was a group of so-called 
" knights," clad in every manner of costume from a 
cow-boy's outfit to Derby hat and patent-leather shoes ; 
some with umbrellas and others with poles, the latter 
of which by a flight of imagination I recognized as 
the lances on the skill in using which fortune would de- 
clare the victor. Round and about this aggregation 
was a mass of dusty, perspiring humanity, through 
whose ranks went pushing from time to time peddlers 
of horse-cakes and persimmon beer, pop-corn and cider. 
Despite my surprise, and the rather inappropriate 
character of my address, I felt on the whole that I 
emerged from the ordeal with better fortune than that 
which befell a close friend of mine, now a prominent 
member of the Richmond Bar, who in the early days 
of his attorneyship essayed a like effort. The condi- 
tions under which he was called upon to speak were 
almost identical in character with those above described. 
Unfortunately, however, for my friend, his tournament 
effort was among the very first of his public deliver- 
ances, and so at the sight of the " brave knights " and 
the on-looking crowd every word of his address 
threatened to take everlasting flight. It was only by 
a most superhuman mental effort that he could retain 



140 Random Recollections 

any recollection of what he had so carefully prepared. 
To add to his embarrassment, there stood immediately 
in front of the speaker a stony-eyed auditor, who had 
evidently imbibed too freely of a beverage that inebri- 
ates as well as cheers, and who watched him with an ex- 
pression of mingled astonishment and stupidity. All 
these varj'ing and concurring circumstances caused the 
orator to fall into a most monotonous and dirge-like 
rendition of his part, and so when after a half-hour of 
sing-song monologue my friend finally concluded with 
the halting injunction to the Brave Sir Knights, " To 
charge — charge for Love and Beauty! and may the 
Crown of Victory perch upon the lance of him who by 
his skill and valor best deserves the Prize ! " his wail-like 
remarks were taken up and continued by the wall-eyed 
auditor aforesaid, who announced in exactly the same 
tone of voice to the astonished multitude, " The rest of 
the services will be concluded at the grave ! " 

In 1881, I for the first time received a nomination 
for public office, when I was selected by my Party as one 
of its candidates for election to the legislature of Vir- 
ginia, to represent the County of Pittsylvania and the 
city of Danville. It was a time of great political 



Some Excursions into Politics 141 

changes in Virginia, and the prospects of" success for 
my Party, as subsequently demonstrated, were very 
shm. What was known as the Readjuster Party had 
just risen into prominence, and was contesting with the 
old Conservative or Democratic Party for control in 
every department of the State government. This or- 
ganization had its origin in a difference of opinion as 
to the methods to be adopted for settling the State debt 
of Virginia. The debt was created before the Civil 
War. The accumulation of interest during a portion 
of that struggle and during the " reconstruction 
period," together with the unconstitutional action of 
the Federal Government in the partition of the State's 
territory, gave rise to questions of great difficulty as 
to what was the equitable and proper course for the 
State to pursue with reference to the bonded liability 
previously created. Added to these questions was the 
further fact that under an attempted settlement made 
immediately after Virginia had been readmitted to the 
Union, the State had assumed the pa^^ment of a por- 
tion of the principal at a rate of interest which time 
had demonstrated was absolutely beyond her financial 
ability to meet. A minority of the Conservative Party 
under the leadership of General William Mahone and 



142 Random Recollections 

John E. Massej, with a corps of lieutenants of re- 
markable ability, declared that a readjustment of this 
debt so as to bring it within Umits both with respect to 
the amount of principal and interest, and the equitable 
obligations of Virginia in the premises, should be made 
with the consent of the creditors, if obtainable, and if 
not obtainable, then b}' force. This element was thus 
denominated by its friends as " Forcible Readjusters '' 
and by its enemies as " Repudiators." Allied with 
them was a large portion of the white Republicans and 
the solid negro vote of the State. 

Arrayed against this combination was the great bod}' 
of the Conservatives or Democrats of the State, who 
styled themselves " Debt Payers " and were called by 
their opponents " Funders." This Party recognized 
the necessity for readjusting the pubhc debt and bring- 
ing it within the abilit}' of the State to pay. It, how- 
ever, insisted that such an adjustment must be made 
with the consent of the creditors, and that an}^ forceful 
adjustment was in fact a repudiation of the State's 
plighted faith, and would bring dishonor upon the 
hitherto unsullied name of the Commonwealth. The 
contention of this Party from an ethical standpoint was 
unquestionably right. Its weakness, however, consisted 



Some Excursions into Politics 143 

in the fact that with the existing rate of taxation the 
State could not meet the annually accruing liabilities, 
and that in order to carry out this very commendable 
contention an increase in the rate of taxation was neces- 
sary. This manifestly unpopular step it refused to 
advocate, upon the ground that in the light of the then 
impoverished condition of the people it was not to be 
considered. 

In addition to the question above referred to, which 
had given rise to the formation of the Readjuster 
Party, there were, of course, other collateral issues 
which entered the contest. The Debt Payers repre- 
sented the existing order. Their sympathizers held, 
and had held for years, all the positions of trust and 
emolument in the State government. These posts had 
been filled as a rule from the citizens of the eastern and 
middle portions of the State, to the seeming exclusion 
of the great section beyond the Blue Ridge. And thus 
the contest partook in some degree of one between sec- 
tions and castes, which added to its acrimony and in- 
tensity. 

John W. Daniel was the nominee of the Debt Payers 
for Governor, while William E. Cameron was the can- 
didate of the Readjusters. They were both men of un- 



144 Random Recollections 

questioned ability, and above all things, to the delight 
of the ordinary Virginia crowd, they were fluent 
speakers and could maintain their cause in that most 
trying ordeal — a man-to-man discussion on a Court- 
house green. 

Into this contest, as above recited, I stepped as one 
of the nominees of my Party in the largest county of 
the State for election to the general assembly. I had 
as my associates upon the ticket a Methodist minister, 
and a young gentleman who combined the various avo- 
cations of farmer, merchant and lawyer. I remember 
with what assiduity we attempted to conceal the fact 
that he was actually a member of the Bar. In a com- 
munity of farmers, it may be well appreciated that a 
ticket consisting of one preacher and two lawyers did 
not commend itself to popular favor, especially as our 
opponents were forever iterating and reiterating the 
charge that the farmers of the country were being 
burdened with taxation to pay an iniquitous and un- 
just debt, while the lawyers, as the paid attorneys 
of bondholders and syndicates, were forever forging 
chains to bind more securely these burdens upon their 
backs. 

Arrayed against us was a ticket consisting of a rep- 
utable lawyer, a prominent farmer and a colored man. 



Some Excursions into Politics 145 

It is but truth to say that this negro was in many re- 
spects the best speaker in the crowd, but I am satisfied 
that his presence upon the ticket, while it rallied to its 
support with enthusiastic devotion the whole negro 
population, drove from it many of the white voters who 
under other circumstances would have embraced the 
cause of this new Party. 

The Readjuster Party won a complete victory in the 
State, electing their candidate for Governor, and a 
majority in both branches of the general assembly. My 
associates and myself, however, were successful, and I 
found myself as a result of the election an accredited 
representative of a confiding people. 

I shall always look back upon this canvass with 
mingled feelings of amusement and pleasure. For over 
six weeks, mounted on a woebegone steed, in company 
with my good old Methodist brother, I rode up and 
down the county, speaking each day. In school-houses, 
in country stores, in the public roads, wherever people 
could be gotten together, there we proclaimed our mes- 
sage and exhorted our auditors to organize, register and 
vote. At night we sometimes accepted the invitation of 
the leading citizen of the neighborhood, and so enjoyed 
the comforts of a good bed and well-cooked food. As a 
rule, however, we turned even the graces of hospitality 



146 Random Recollections 

to account, and sought the humble cabins whose occu- 
pants were supposed to be doubtful in their sympathies, 
or outspoken in their opposition to our cause. Every 
weapon in the arsenal of the pohtician was brought into 
requisition on these occasions. Arguments, appeals, 
anecdotes, and overflowing interest in our host, his 
family, his bab}', his crops, his horses, — all were used as 
occasion required to establish our claims. If our prin- 
ciples and policies were objectionable, then redoubled 
efforts were put forth to win the allegiance of our host 
to our personal fortunes. If we found we were persona 
non grata either because of occupation, religious asso- 
ciations, past records, or the like, then stress was laid 
upon the claims of the Party and the duty of subordi- 
nating such considerations in an effort to secure its tri- 
umphs at the polls. Sometimes our host would prove 
obdurate, and sullenly dissent, assailing us with argu- 
ments and denials. But these experiences, though well 
calculated to dampen our ardor, were not so trj'ing as 
when after a hard day's campaigning we found our- 
selves at the tender mercj- of a host who demonstrated 
the rightfulness of our cause by rehearsing the speeches 
which we ourselves had delivered. I am satisfied from 
manv such adventures that there are few forms of tor- 



Some Excursions into Politics 147 

ture more excruciating than to compel a man to listen 
to his own eloquence ; and that no pang might be lack- 
ing, we were ofttimes regaled with our own anecdotes 
and supposed witticisms. 

In addition to public addresses and this house-to- 
house canvass, we neglected not to take advantage of all 
gatherings, such as basket-picnics, warrant trials, barn- 
raisings and corn-shuckings, and even on Sundays our 
ubiquitous presence might be noted at " All-day Meet- 
ings," where we sought to establish ourselves with the 
elect by the flattering attention with which we regarded 
the sermon, and the unction with which we sang; nor 
did we fail to court the good graces of the kindly house- 
wives by devouring with many signs of appreciation 
the dinners which they always provided for such occa- 
sions. 

The subject of our public addresses, consisting in 
large part the inviolability of contracts, the rights of the 
bondholders, etc., was not one to enthuse an audience, 
a large portion of which affected to believe that these 
selfsame bondholders had in some mysterious way 
brought on the Civil War, robbed our people, parti- 
tioned the State, and were now, Shylock-like, clamor- 
ing for the pound of flesh ; and so I had recourse to the 



148 Random Recollections 

expediency so often common among old-time Virginia 
stump-speakers, of interlarding my speeches with anec- 
dotes. Of their effectiveness, or at least the relish 
with which they were received, I was not infrequently 
reminded. Often in the midst of a learned argument, 
designed to fix the legal status of the Coupons, a voice 
in the crowd would call out, " Oh, damn the Coupons ! 
Tell us that Bear tale." No matter how ancient the 
anecdote, if it was to the point and told with animation, 
it seldom failed to strike a responsive chord ; and men's 
hearts, if not their minds, would be moved in sympathy 
with the speaker and his cause. 

At length, the canvass over, rewarded as I have said 
by victory for our local ticket, we transferred the 
scenes of our labor from the highways of Pittsylvania 
to the old Capitol building at Richmond. Here T 
found our Party confronted by adverse majorities in 
both branches of the general assembly, and the hope 
of defeating the schemes which our opponents had in 
hand seemed most forlorn. However, our membership 
was homogeneous, united and capable of self-leadership, 
while the opposition was heterogeneous and depended 
upon a dictator or leader, not of the body, for their 
guidance. As is well known, this leader was General 



Some Excursions into Politics 149 

William Mahone, and he ruled with an arrogance which 
brooked no interference, and under his own hat essayed 
to carry the mind which should alone determine the 
policy of his Party, To this circumstance, together 
with the character of the coalitionists which made up 
the Party, and the incessant warfare which we waged 
upon their citadel, is to be attributed its final fall. 

Among the membership of our House were fifteen 
colored delegates. They took little part in the deliber- 
ations of the body except to vote. This duty they per- 
formed, however, with unfailing regularity, and their 
votes were recorded in favor of all party measures so 
loyally as to win for them at the hands of General Ma- 
hone the appellation of " faithful allies." It was a 
circumstance to be noted that in the succeeding legis- 
lature, in which their party was in the minority, they 
more frequently participated in the debates, or at least 
made speeches more or less to the point. Many of 
these efforts displayed the negro's well-known love of 
humor, and sometimes there was a touch of pathos and 
homely wisdom. On one occasion the name of the late 
Frank D. Irving, one of the most lovable men and ac- 
complished lawyers in Virginia, was presented as a can- 
didate for judge, when in support of his election a 



150 Random Recollections 

colored member, a boyhood friend of the distinguished 
lawyer, spoke about as follows: 

" Mr. Speaker : I rise to second de nomination of Mr. 
Irvings. Mr. Speaker, I knows Mr. Irvings. I 
knowed him bef o' de war ; I knowed him in an' enduring 
of de war, and I knowed him since de war ; and I knows 
him to be a man whar courts no man's smiles, nor fears 
no man's frowns. He will make a jest judge. Mr. 
Speaker, Mr. Irvings is a God-fearing man, and if we 
all were half as good, we could nigh 'bout smell de blos- 
soms that bloom on de trees in de fields of Paradise." 

I will not burden my narrative with any description 
of the various measures with which our opponents 
sought to strengthen their power. I will, however, al- 
lude to the means which we adopted to defeat their 
enactment. Briefly stated, this was simply a policy of 
obstruction. We had no assurance that by delay we 
could prevent their ultimate passage, but we felt that 
the future might have better things in store, and that 
in any event our course would ri^'et the attention of 
the people and perhaps stimulate them with some of the 
spirit which animated our hearts. We were well 
equipped for this kind of warfare. Among our mem- 
bership were men tlioroughly skilled in all the intri- 



Some Excursions into Politics 151 

cacies of parliamentary^ rules. Besides, we had de- 
baters of unquestioned ability, and speakers not a few 
who, without reference to their mental attainments, pos- 
sessed a lung power which was most efficacious for delay 
when logic and eloquence had been expended in vain. 
The rules of the House — those usually in vogue in par- 
liamentary bodies, and which had been adopted by our 
opponents before our policy was indicated — proved a 
veritable Frankenstein to the majority. Indeed, under 
our interpretation and attempted enforcement, they re- 
sembled the concept of the Constitution of the United 
States which Baldwin puts into the minds of the two old 
Virginians referred to in his " Flush Times in Ala- 
bama." These two worthies, exiled from their beloved 
Commonwealth, were wont to beguile the tedious hours 
by discussing the provisions of that much-discussed in- 
strument, invariably concluding with the conviction that 
it had been divinely ordained as the means for prevent- 
ing the national government from doing anything. 

With the help of the rules and free use of the right 
to speak on every conceivable subject, to require the 
reading in full of each day's journal, to interpose mo- 
tions to adjourn at every opportunity and demand re- 
corded roll-calls upon all measures and motions, we 



152 Random Recollections 

finally came to the end of the regular session with nearly 
all the obnoxious measures referred to still unenacted. 
A call for an extra session by the Governor quickl}- fol- 
lowed, but the spirit of revolt and disintegration in the 
ranks of the majority had now asserted itself. Smart- 
ing under the domination of their leader and would-be 
dictator, Senator Newberry with the ringing call, "This 
way, freemen ! " bolted the caucus of his Party, followed 
by a sufficient number of his associates to turn the ma- 
jority in the Senate, Thus, not onl}^ were the measures 
of the dominant party defeated, but the knell of its 
final fall was sounded. 

The experiment of a minority of the whites allying 
themselves with the solid vote of the blacks, had been 
tried and for the nonce had been successful. The start- 
ling declaration of one of their leaders, that unlike 
Scipio they would not carry the war into Africa, but 
would carry Africa into the war, had been essayed, and 
victory had crowned the portentous experiment. Now 
another appeal was to be made to the people, and the 
legitimacy' of this alliance and its right to rule was to 
be more decisively determined. 

The campaign in the fall of 1883, in which I was 
again one of the nominees of my Party for election to 



Some Excursions into Politics 153 

the House of Delegates, was one of the most exciting 
ever witnessed in Virginia. Only members of the general 
assembly were to be elected, but it was everywhere felt 
that upon the result of the election depended the su- 
premacy for long years in the old Commonwealth of one 
or the other of the two parties which confronted each 
other in the contest. The Readjusters had the advan- 
tage of the power and patronage of the State adminis- 
tration and of the government at Washington, but the 
coalition referred to was growing more and more ob- 
noxious, and by its very composition its defeat was fore- 
doomed. 

After the canvass, in which both parties put forth 
great efforts, the Democrats elected majorities in both 
branches of the general assembly, myself and my asso- 
ciates in Pittsylvania being among those who won at 
the polls. 

Two circumstances connected with this canvass might 
be recorded : the culmination and decline in Virginia of 
the custom of dueling, and the occurrence of the so- 
called " Danville Riot." Of dueling and its hold 
upon the sympathies of the people in almost every 
land, I need not speak. In Virginia, for years it had 
been an accepted form of settling personal differences, 



15-1 Eatidom Re collect ions 

and men repaired to the field of honor as if to some 
court estabhshed by divine decree. The high courtesy 
of the participants, the one to the other; the Hght es- 
teem in which men held their lives as compared with 
their much-coveted reputation for valor and honor, — 
all served to invest the practice with a certain flavor of 
heroism and romance. Despite most stringent statutes 
the custom flourished, and probably never in one year 
of grace were there so many aff^airs of honor as during 
the canvass referred to. One prominent leader found 
himself embarrassed with two such engagements on the 
same day, and had to hurry from one encounter to 
keep his appointment at the other. The public senti- 
ment, however, which had sustained the practice now 
showed unmistakable signs of change. The happen- 
ings of this canvass undoubtedly rendered the custom 
less and less popular, and so its decline continued until 
now it has fallen into a state of " innocuous desuetude." 
The Danville Riot above referred to, and which at- 
tracted wide-spread attention at the time, was nothing 
more nor less than a street fight between whites and 
blacks, the immediate occasion for which was an incon- 
siderate jostling of a white man b}' a colored man, or 
vice versa, on the sidewalk. Of course, back of this 



Some Excursions into Politics 155 

was the irritating fact that the negroes, and a few 
white allies, had political control of the City govern- 
ment, and so amid the excitement incident to the pend- 
ing campaign the collision came. 

As we have said, the Readjuster Party was defeated 
in the election. The most important fact incident to 
this result was the demonstration that no political 
party in Virginia could hold permanent power which 
depended for its supremacy in large measure upon the 
solid negro vote. Africa had indeed been led into 
the war. The leaders were among the ablest Virginians 
of their time, and temporary success had crowned the 
movement; but two years of this coalition rule was 
sufficient to so arouse and so solidify the white vote 
of the State, that at the next election the result was 
reversed and the experiment repudiated. The twenty 
years which have followed but serve to confirm the fact 
thus established. We may await with interest and ap- 
prehension the next experiment with the negro vote, 
which will certainly come whenever the white vote of the 
State divides. 

My experience in the general assembly of 1883-84 
was just the reverse of that in the former body. Then 
I was in the minority. Now my Party held the reins 



156 Random Recollections 

of power. That we were not as considerate of the 
rights of our opponents as cooler heads might enjoin, 
ma}' be acknowledged. We felt that existing condi- 
tions were the result of a revolutionary movement, and 
that like methods were justifiable in restoring the con- 
duct of affairs to our own keeping. I was very active ; 
and planning and scheming, working and achieving 
for my Partj , was a service in which I found the 
liveliest interest. 

At the State Convention held in the summer of 1884 I 
was nominated as one of the Presidential Electors on 
the Cleveland and Hendricks ticket. I will not attempt 
to record my experiences in this campaign. It was a 
time of intense enthusiasm among the members of both 
of the two great parties. All the signs of the times 
indicated that the old historic Democratic Party, which 
notwithstanding its numbers had been excluded from 
power in the national government since 1861, was about 
once more to elect a President. Such proved to be the 
fact. 

It is difficult to appreciate the impression which this 
result wrought in Virginia, and indeed throughout the 
South. It may be summed up in the idea that at last 
a National administration — one in which the people of 



Some Excursions into Politics 157 

all sections of the country would have a part — was to be 
installed at Washington. The event was celebrated 
with much speechmaking, band-playing, fireworks and 
so forth. In these jollifications I bore a part fully 
commensurate with my lung power, physical endurance 
and other like requisites for out-of-door speaking. 

Personal assurances and letters not a few, came to 
me at this time, of an appreciative character. Perhaps 
the most unique of these testimonials was the following : 

VA., December 3, 1884. 
Hon. Beverley B. Munford, House 
of Delegates, Richmond, Va. 
Dear Bev. : I listened with mute eloquence to 
your grand Philippic last evening. Our talk of 
yesterday was happy on my part, and I am glad 
occasion has given rise to the admissibility of my 
sending you a line. 

I did lend myself in November, 1883, to a 
feeling of pride and exultation over the intellectual 
inroads you were making in the affections of the 
people, when I said, " I will erect a series of monu- 
ments in my heart, eternally dedicated to ;/our 
memory." 

I love to talk freely with ambitious scions of 
grand old sires, and I am glad to remark, Virginia 



158 Random Recollections 

— with her prestige — is enshrined in the hearts of 
her coming young men, the pride of any country, 
who will never lose their grip on the helm of 
state until she safely reaches the port of w^onted 
honor and peace, systematically despised of late 
by the truckling truants of her once warm hearth- 
stone. 

With sincere wishes for your temporal and eternal 
welfare, I am, with high regard. 
Yours sincerely, 



P. S. — The man}' punches of last evening in 
honor of Cleveland's election are still gilding the 
horizon of my brain. I feel so elated that I can 
hardly maintain myself with becoming dignity. 

The foregoing encomium was only surpassed by that 
of the enthusiastic countryman who presented my name 
in the Convention for reelection to the House of Dele- 
gates in the fall of '85. In a most vociferous speech 
he urged my nomination, concluding with the startling 
announcement, " My candidate, Mr. Chairman, has 
stamped upon his forehead, so all men may read, the 
immortal words, ' Sic semper tyrarvnis ' — ' Give me 
liberty or give me death.' " Despite this handicap I 



Some Eajcursions into Politics 159 

M^as for the third time elected, and upon the conclusion 
of this term in 1887 I removed, as we have seen, to 
the city of Richmond. 

The next political adventure in which I had a per- 
sonal interest resulted from my candidacy for a seat 
in the House of Delegates, and later for the Senate, 
from the City of Richmond, in both of which I was suc- 
cessful. The experiences of these two campaigns were 
unlike those of similar efforts in the country. In the 
country, I made my appeals in public addresses or b}^ 
personal interviews with the voters. In the city, I 
soon found there were numerous men of more or less 
influence whose support it seemed all-important to 
secure, because they personally controlled the voters 
of certain localities, nationalities, crafts and such like. 
These magnates led or controlled their adherents much 
after the fashion of some tribal chief. They looked 
after them in trouble; secured them positions, political 
or otherwise; befriended their friends, and by all the 
many ways known to the ward politician linked their 
followers to them by the ties of interest and affection. 
Every election was an event in the life of these leaders 
and was utilized to strengthen their position, both with 
their followers and with the leaders of wider influence 



160 Random Recollections 

and official place. The power of the ward pohtician 
with the latter depended largely upon his strength 
with the former, while no circumstance was so likely to 
weaken his hold upon the former as any evidence that 
his prestige at court was on the wane. 

I need not pause to recite the means necessary — some 
of them devious — to secure the support of these Bosses. 
The best and surest method, however, was to satisfy 
them of your own strength among the mass of voters. 
It was to a successful candidate's cause that they de- 
sired to link their fortunes. However, their pledge 
once given they stood true, though, in the shifting 
fortunes of the contest, it became evident that their 
candidate was doomed to defeat. 

Among the many influences which go to make up 
the power of successful political Bosses I reckon these 
two foremost : fidelity to their word and friends, and 
capacity to rightly read the signs of the times, and 
thus opportunely to declare for men and measures pre- 
destined to succeed. The so-called Boss is, as a rule, 
more the follower of popular movements, and the 
sponsor for strong men, than the dictator and tyrant he 
is generally represented to be. 
Far below in skill or influence and personal worth were 



Some Excursions into Politics 161 

the Ward Heelers — men of little personal following and 
influence for good, and yet whose friendship a candi- 
date doubtful of his battle could not aff^ord to despise. 
These men, like the Smith in the " Fair Maid of Perth," 
fought for their own right hand. They had no senti- 
ment, and their interest could only be quickened by 
the application of the golden spur. Many were the 
devices they employed for levying tribute upon unwary 
candidates. A favorite scheme was the reputed or- 
ganization of political clubs glorified with such names 
as " The Invincibles," " The Jeffersonians," " Jack- 
son's Followers," " The Unterrified," and the like. 
Contributions for the purpose of defraying the clubs' 
expenses and furthering the patriotic ends for which 
they were established, would be solicited. Coupled with 
the appeal usually came information of the candidate's 
election as an honorary member, and hence party fealty 
and personal pride were both appealed to, to secure the 
much-coveted cash. 

But generally the demand was as frank as it was 
urgent: " You need my support and that of my friends, 
and I need your money." The clever candidate was he 
who could refuse, and yet not arouse the pronounced 
hostility of these Knights of the Ward. Only when 



162 Random Recollections 

there was no serious opposition was it safe to gratify 
your impulse to send them with a curt answer along 
their way. All the recent statutes preventing the use 
of money in elections they regard with great disfavor 
as an unwarranted interference with their ancient and 
well-recognized rights. 

A common characteristic of these men was that they 
never surrendered their supposed claims upon their 
benefactors. Once a candidate, and they cherished re- 
membrance of the fact to their dying day. Once help 
them, and for all time to come they felt at liberty to 
levy tribute. 

No recital of my excursion into politics would be 
complete which failed to make some mention of mj' at- 
tendance upon the Democratic State Conventions — in- 
stitutions of blended political and social significance. 
There were two of these conventions held every four 
years — one to name a candidate for Governor, the other 
to select delegates to the National Convention of the 
party, which in turn named candidates for President 
and Vice-President of the United States. The prmial 
objects of these conventions were as above indicated, 
but they presented opportunities for furthering the 
fortunes of political aspirants, and were the occasions 



Some Excursions into Politics 163 

of social reunions which usually lent them far more in- 
terest than that derived from the mere event which 
brought them into being. 

There was a species of evolution in the growth of the 
young politician whose first call perchance from the 
mass of his fellow-citizens came with his selection to rep- 
resent in this broader arena his friends and neighbors 
of the hamlet or ward. His attendance upon the second 
convention would probably be signalized by being 
selected as a member of one of its important committees, 
and by being admitted into quasi-fellowship with the 
veterans in their plans for the success of men and 
measures. In the next he might attain official position 
01 be selected to present the name of his favorite for 
nomination. Still later he might secure the honor of 
being called forth by its membership to address the 
Convention. Such speeches were usually made by two 
classes of men : those who had attained prominence and 
influence in the party, and those who were just coming 
into notice and to whom such calls came as a sign of 
increasing popularity. This latter class of speakers 
constituted, as it were, a waiting-list from which pro- 
spective candidates were most likely to be selected. 

Allusion has been made to the social significance of 



164< Random Recollections 

these occasions. The ordinary Virginian is a social 
being. Though possessing a pride of ancestry and a 
certain spirit of caste, he is one of the most democratic 
of men. From the isolation of his country home he 
loved to make these periodic visits to the capital and 
there revive old friendships and form new ones. His 
comrades of college days, his fellow-veterans of the 
Civil War, his staunch supporters in political struggles, 
— all these and other like associates quickened the de- 
sire for reunion. Up to the Convention city, therefore, 
like the tribes to Jerusalem, came the " Judges " and 
the " Majors " and all the varied personnel of those 
genuinely democratic gatherings — ready to bear a part 
in the work of the body, but equally intent upon having 
a good time. There was no question of the social im- 
pulse, while with it was mingled a certain patriotic feel- 
ing that Virginia was making a call upon their fealty. 
It was a great season for mint-juleps and other like po- 
tations. Many were the libations poured upon the 
altars of Virginia, of old times, of friendship, of the 
party — and its heroes past and present. 

While the formal work of the Convention was trans- 
acted in the sight of all the people, yet there were many 
important matters settled in conferences outside the 



Some Excursions into Politics 165 

Convention Hall. These latter were usually held at the 
principal hotel of the city, and about its corridors 
thronged the great body of delegates. Here the can- 
didates opened their headquarters, and here the crowds 
gathered. Men from far and near mingled in the 
constantly changing stream of humanity — enthused 
with the joy of seeing old faces and recounting after 
years of separation the happenings of bygone days. 
The young had here a chance to meet the veterans of 
the party, and to catch glimpses at least of many men 
whose achievements upon the battle-field, in the forum, 
or at the Bar, had rendered their names household words 
through all the countryside. 

The headquarters of the candidates were the Meccas 
toward which great crowds ebbed and flowed. In 
three rooms of varying size these would-be potentates 
held their court. To the first the public was admitted, 
and friends of the great men here made all comers wel- 
come — dilating upon his virtues and the growing pros- 
pects of success. In the next gathered his trusty 
friends to receive reports and to formulate plans, while 
in the third the candidate himself, hid from profane 
eyes, took counsel with his managers or received such 
of the comers as it was thought best to admit to his 



166 Random Recollections 

presence. About the place there was an air of mystery 
and excitement, suggestions of deep-laid plans and ex- 
pectant surprises, loud talk and soft talk, — the whole 
scene permeated and crowned by clouds of tobacco 
smoke which ascended from the lips of the surging mass 
of perspiring patriots, in the minds of each of whom 
ran the thought that this was indeed the day " Big with 
the fate of Caesar and of Rome." 

Another center of interest was the room in which the 
leaders met to formulate the rough draft of the plat- 
form. When skies were clear and harmony ruled the 
ranks, the platform was easily arranged and as readily 
accepted by the authorized committee and the Conven- 
tion itself; but when divisions and divergence of views 
deep and irreconcilable existed, then from these gather- 
ings emerged contending factions to fight out upon 
the floor of the body the question of the principles and 
policies to which the party should plight its faith. 

Not the least characteristic incident of these gather- 
ings was the discomfiture which the delegates and visi- 
tors experienced at the hotels. These hostelries were 
all too small for the number of guests, but it was as 
much against the accepted custom of the hour as the 
pecuniary interests of the landlord to turn away a new- 



Some Excursions into Politics 167 

comer as long as there was room for a cot in any part 
of the building. I recall with amused interest my ex- 
perience on one occasion. I had stipulated in advance 
for a room, and in consideration of an increased price 
had secured all to myself the comforts of such an ar- 
rangement. I remember with what feelings of con- 
gratulation I withdrew about midnight from the crowd 
to the peace and seclusion of the room which my fore- 
sight had thus provided. It was even then a difficult 
task to lull one's self to slumber. From below ascended 
the noise of many voices ; from above was yet to be 
heard the tramp of feet going in and out of the head- 
quarters of a favorite candidate ; while from across the 
hall emerged those peculiar sounds indicative of the 
fact that a coterie of congenial spirits were engaged 
in the national game of draw-poker. So it was, and 
yet sleep at length came, only to be broken by a re- 
sounding knock at my door. In a half-awakened state 
I admitted the intruder, demanding to know the cause 
of his untimely appearance. He explained that he was 
a belated delegate — a friend of my candidate for nomi- 
nation — and had been informed by the hotel clerk 
that I occupied the only room in which were not gath- 
ered from two to six men. A part of my bed was his 



168 Random Recollections 

modest request. As my companion sank to sleep he re- 
marked, " I am afraid my snoring will disturb you, 
as I am unfortunately afflicted with that habit." Many 
hours of fruitless efforts to sleep convinced me not only 
of the truth of his warning, but of the futility of at- 
tempting by foresight or money to make one's self more 
comfortable than one's neighbors. When at length 
tired nature asserted its right to rest, I fell asleep some- 
what cheered by the thought that this unwelcomed 
comer would on the morrow help forward my cause to 
victory. Despite this reflection, I could but feel that 
the old adage that " Politics makes strange bedfellows " 
was being demonstrated in a most realistic manner and 
in a way not at all to my liking. 





CHAPTER VII 

So7ne Wanderings far Afield 

^O American of English lineage, certainly 
no Virginian, steeped in the history and 



traditions of the Motherland, can, for 
the first time, set out to revisit the home 
of his forebears without having his heart 
strangely moved and his mind stimulated by the en- 
trancing prospect before him. The glorious record of 
his people's progress, which has, as yet, been mirrored 
only on the pages of history or romance, will now be 
unrolled before him. The homes and graves of the 
great are there, and with swelling heart and uncovered 
head he can stand amid scenes made forever sacred by 
the Soldiers, Statesmen, Philosophers, Martyrs, Priests 

and Prophets of his race. 

169 



170 Random Recollections 

Thackeray, in his " Virginians," has portrayed the 
f eehngs with which his hero set out for old England : 

" All Americans," says the author, " who love 
the Old Country — and what gently nurtured man 
or woman of Anglo-Saxon race does not? — have 
ere this rehearsed their English travels, and re- 
visited in fancy the spots with which their hopes, 
their parents' fond stories, and their friends' de- 
scriptions have rendered them familiar. 

" There are few things to me more affecting in 
the history of the quan-el which divided the two 
great nations than the recurrence of that word 
Home, as used by the younger toward the older 
country. Harry Warrington had his chart laid 
out. Before London, and its glorious temples of 
St. Paul's and St. Peter's; its grim Tower where 
the brave and loyal had shed their blood from Wal- 
lace down to Balmerino and Kilmarnock — pitied by 
gentle hearts ; before the awful window at White- 
hall, whence the martyr Charles had issued to kneel 
once more and then ascend to heaven : — before Play- 
houses, Parks and Palaces, wondrous resorts of wit, 
pleasure and splendor; — before Shakespear's rest- 
ing-place under the tall spire which rises by Avon, 
amidst the sweet Warwickshire pastures; before 
Derbv, and Falkirk, and Culloden, where the cause 



Some Wanderings far Afield 171 

of lionor and loyalty had fallen, it might be to rise 
no more ; before all these points in their pilgrimage 
there was one which the young Virginian brothers 
held even more sacred, and that was the home of 
their family." 

Harry Warrington, however, was only two genera- 
tions removed from his pioneer grandfather — Henry 
Esmond, who had sought political safety and domestic 
happiness in the Virginia Plantations. Nearly three 
hundred years had rolled by since my ancestors set sail 
from the Thames. So for me there was no spot in old 
England preeminent in attractions because of family 
associations. My interest encompassed all the places 
made memorable by heroic or intellectual achievement, 
and by the birth or burial of the good and great. So, 
too, with regard to places around which romance had 
thrown the witchery of her charm. Indeed, I found 
these latter equal in interest with those where the 
tragedy or comedy of real life had actually been en- 
acted. Thus Westminster Hall — with its haunting 
memories of grim State trials, and where Burke and 
Sheridan arraigned Warren Hastings with such in- 
comparable eloquence — presented, of course, compelling 
interest, but not one whit more than the humble Law 



172 Random Recollections 

Courts in which I could fancy Quirk, Gammon & 
Snap had plied their practice, or Sergeant Buzfuz had 
uttered his Philippics in the memorable trial of Bar- 
dell V. Pickwick. At Whitehall, as Thackeray says, I 
could look upon the window out of which Charles 
walked to execution, and with pathetic interest deplore 
that a man who could die so grandly could not 
have lived more nobly; but with almost like pathos 
I regarded the stone steps of St. Martins-in-the- 
Fields, because there upon the sympathetic bosom of 
Peggotty, David Copperfield had cried out his aching 
heart. 

Suggestions, too, of the workaday life of old Eng- i 
land were most alluring. Thus visions of roast beef, 
plum-puddings, foaming tankards, fox-hunting squires, 
bluff stage-coach drivers and rosy cheeked barmaids 
combined to make a picture as attractive as it was real. | 

My feelings with respect to Scotland and Ireland 
were only second in sympathetic interest to those with 
which I regarded England. 

Scotland ! The Land of the Thistle and Heather ! 
with her mountains, lakes and valleys, all haunted with 
the wild stories of warring clans and chieftains. The 
home of Bums — that poet of humanity — and of Scott, 



Some IVandemigs far Afield 173 

who has peopled all the countryside with the fabled 
folk of his wondrous fancy. 

Ireland, too, is a land to love — " The Emerald Gem 
of the Western World," as her poet sings. Here, 
hand-in-hand with Tom Moore, one may wander on 
entranced by the beauty of the scenery and the stirring 
events with which all the land is charmed. 

Of all these thoughts and so much more my mind was 
filled when in the early summer of 1887 I stepped 
aboard the good ship City of Rome, and bade farewell 
to home. Not that I was one whit disloyal to the land 
of my birth, or could for a moment contrast with re- 
gret her position with that of the Mother-Isle beyond 
the seas. I felt that America was the fulfilment of so 
much that had been hoped and struggled for in the 
old land, and that I had as much right to glory in the 
people from whom I sprung as the veriest Cockney 
born within the sound of the bells of Mary-le-Bow. Or, 
in the words of Hamlet : 

" I have some rights of memory in this kingdom — 
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me." 

My ocean trip was the same in incident, or want of 
incident, with that of the many thousands who each 



174 Random Recollections 

year cross from shore to shore. It was, however, my 
first voyage, and so every scene and sensation possessed 
the charm of novelty. There were, both in fact and 
figure, days of cloud and days of sunshine. Upon occa- 
sions, as Dr. Holmes so aptly remarks, " I made my 
contribution to the Atlantic ", while again, under cloud- 
less skies and over seas whose every wave was charmed^ 
our good ship bounded forward on her way. 

There are few moments more delightful than when 
cosily wrapped in your steamer rug you abandon your- 
self to the beauty and wonder with which you are sur- 
rounded. Sky and sea seem but the complement the 
one of the other — reflecting back the wealth of ever- 
changing light and color and all the mystery of bound- 
less space. Only surpassed perchance in charm is the 
scene, when with day's decline the stars take up their 
silent vigils. 

Seven days of prosperous voyage and The City of 
Rome brought us off the mouth of Queenstown Har- 
bour. From ship to shore was but a step, and soon I 
found myself standing on the soil of the Old Woi'ld. 



Some Wanderings far Afield 175 

IRELAND 

There is nothing new which I can record. The path 
of the Tourist in all the old countries is well trodden, 
and I shall only jot down some of my wanderings and 
chance impressions- 
Landing at Queenstown, I went on to Cork, some ten 
miles distant. Thus my first impression of Ireland 
was formed in this her most typical city. Never had 
I seen a more beautiful country. Glowing with green, 
stretch the hills and meadows — " along the pleasant 
waters of the River Lee." Hard by is Blarney Castle. 
I doubt not the significance now attaching to the word 
had its origin in the speech and manner of the people 
living within sight of its tower. I did not kiss the 
stone. It would be a dangerous experiment, seeing it 
is embedded in the side of the castle wall nigh midway 
between turret and foundation. 

From Cork I journeyed in a four-horse stage-coach 
to Bantry Bay, GlengarifF and the far-famed Lakes of 
Killarney. This trip, covering a distance of fifty 
miles, traverses a country of great natural beauty and 
picturesqueness. The land, however, is sterile and the 
people are poor. A little incident served to illustrate 



176 Bandom Recollections 

the latter fact, and the wide-spread desire among cer- 
tain classes of the people to find a new home in America 
— that Eldorado beyond the seas. My companion and 
I were approached near the Lakes of Killarney by a 
sweet-faced Irish girl who had goat's milk for sale. 
Having bought far more than we desired, because of 
our wish to hear her talk, and having been rewarded 
by a profusion of thanks and blessings assured from 
many Saints, I ventured to suggest that a maiden of 
such manifest charms might find a more befitting place 
as the queen of some cottage, rather than selling goat's 
milk. To my remark the girl, with evident sincerity, 
replied that it would cost thirty-five shillings to get 
married, that the bride would have to pay this charge, 
and that despite the alluring prospect which I depicted, 
if she ever amassed such a store, she would labor on until 
a sufficient sum had been saved to buy a steerage ticket 
to America. 

I was not disappointed in the Lakes of Killarney, 
nor in the wild beauty of the mountain fastnesses which 
surround them. In striking contrast with the latter 
was the island of Innisf alien, which rests so peacefully 
on the bosom of one of the lakes. Looking out upon 
the island, wrapped in the soft glow of the setting sun. 



Some Wanderings far Afield 177 

I recalled the lines of Moore — for my hand seldom left 
that of my gentle guide. 

" Sweet Innisf alien, fare thee well ! 

May calm and sunshine long be thine. 
How fair thou art, let others tell. 
While but to feel how fair is mine." 

From Killarney I went on to Dublin, traveling at 
night in order to enjoy the beauty of the long twilight 
and the novelty of the early sunrise, for at that season 
the days were some eighteen hours long. It is not the 
land of the " Midnight Sun," but yet one from which 
it seems very loath to leave, or as Moore so tenderly 
sings : 

" Where the sun seems to linger with so fond a delay, 
That the night only draws a thin veil o'er the day." 

Dublin is well worth a visit. Trinity College, Christ 
Church Cathedral, the Royal Gallery of Art, the Old 
Irish Parliament Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral and 
Phoenix Park, all of which I visited, are among the 
many places of historic interest. The Court-rooms, 
about which I could fancy the eloquence of Plunkett and 



178 Random Recollections 

Grattan and Pliillips and other brilliant Irish orators 
still lingered, possessed, of course, for me, unique at- 
traction. 

From Dublin I went by rail to Londonderry, which 
is in the extreme north of the island. Macaulay's de- 
scription of the famous siege was fresh in my mind, 
and so every spot associated with the struggle between 
king and people possessed great interest. While here, 
I found my first shamrock. I had thought to see it 
on every sward, but such was not my experience. Many 
explanations are given as to how and why the leaf ac- 
quired its present place in the sentiment and life of the 
Irish people. The most generally accepted theory is 
that Saint Patrick used the little plant to symbolize 
the Trinity and explain its significance. Tom Moore, 
however, with the poet's fondness for sentiment of an- 
other sort, records that Wit, Valor and Love, wander- 
ing through the island, adopted it as representative of 
the trio ; and so the Irish people, strong in these quali- 
ties, made it their national emblem. 

Belfast is, of course, an Irish city, and yet so differ- 
ent from her sister cities to the south. These differ- 
ences are accounted for by the fact that in Belfast the 
Scotch-Irish and the Protestant faith dominate. It has 



Some Wanderings far Afield 179 

all the air of a modern city, lacking, however, much of 
the picturesqueness of the old Irish towns. Here are 
the great linen industries, and the city and adjacent 
country seemed prosperous. 

My visit preceded by only a few days the Prince of 
Orange day, which is observed on the anniversary of 
the battle of the Boyne. Remarking on the many pre- 
parations everywhere evident in anticipation of the 
event, a native assured me that the day and its happen- 
ings would well repay me for prolonging my stay — 
adding that my hotel would afford me exceptional ad- 
vantages for witnessing the street fights which would 
surely occur between the Orangemen and Roman 
Catholics, as on both sides the day would be declared 
a failure unless there had been a brave show of shil- 
lalahs and many broken heads to attest the prowess of 
their owners. 

But no matter what may be the predisposition of the 
Irish people to engage in these diversions with each 
other, the visitor, unless he represents some political 
oi religious feud, is sure of a most cordial welcome and 
unfailing courtesy. The wit and genial qualities of 
the people are always in evidence, and every happening, 
from a christening to a funeral, is a new opportunit3'^ 



180 Random Recollections 

for their manifestation. The remark, attributed I be- 
lieve to Sydney Smith, who referring to some opponent 
said he trusted to his memory for his wit, could never 
truthfully be applied to any son of Old Erin. 

At the time of my visit to Ireland, the subject of 
Home Rule for its people was attracting attention all 
over the world. I studied the conditions and wishes 
of the people, and balanced, as best I could, the local 
needs with the necessities and sentiments of the Empire. 
I find in my notes made at the time, the following sum- 
mary of what I thought would be the best and probable 
policy of the Imperial Government. 

" In a system of concihatory legislation which will 
accord them the management of their local affairs, so 
far as it is consistent with the preservation of the 
British Empire, and in the elevation of her representa- 
tive men to positions of trust in the Government, will 
be found the surest way to bring some measure of con- 
tentment to her people — certainly it can thus be 
brought to the more conservative elements. While 
doubtless a larger measure of local Self-Government 
will be accorded her as the result of her present demand 
for Home Rule, yet I do not think, from my observa- 
tions, that the dreams of so many of her people, who 



Some Wanderings far Afield 181 

look forward beyond Home Rule to Irish Independence, 
will ever be realized. The importance of preserving in- 
tact the United Kingdoms, and maintaining the power 
and integrity of the British Empire, will always prove 
the great stumbling-block in the way of realizing her 
aspiration to stand once more among the nations of 
the Earth." 

The events of the past sixteen years would seem to 
justify my conclusions made at that time. What the 
Irish people would have accomplished had they not been 
linked with a people between whom there existed so little 
fellowship, or even understanding, must always re- 
main an interesting question. A country which numbers 
among her sons such men as Burke, Grattan, Curran, 
Phillips, Swift, Goldsmith, Moore and others of almost 
equal gifts, must always possess a fascination, and every 
problem affecting the happiness of her people enlists 
the sympathy of the English-speaking world. 

SCOTLAND 

Of Scotland I will record four memories — a day at 
Ayr, my trip through the Trossachs, my stay at Edin- 
burgh, and my visit to Abbotsford and the grave of its 
master hard by, amid the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. 



182 Random Recollections 

One of the most delightful days of my life was the 
one spent at Ayr. The country is beautiful, the day 
was fine and I wandered on amid scenes redolent with 
memories of Scotland's peasant bard. The thatched- 
roof cottage where Burns was born, the " Tarn 
O'Shanter Inn," " Alloway Kirk," the " Twa Brigs 
o' Ayr," and finally, the memorial which has been erected 
to his fame amid the " banks and braes o' Bonnie 
Doon," were all visited. 

Meeting, by happy chance, a bright Scotch boy, my 
companion and I produced a copy of Burns's poems 
and prevailed upon him to read for us some of its 
pages. Seated by the roadside, we listened to this 
native while with evident pride and appreciation he 
read the poems of his great countryman. The scenes 
about us, rich with associations; the quaint, yet mel- 
lifluous accents of the reader, — all combined to lend to 
the lines of the poet an attractiveness and beauty which 
I had never realized before. 

Quite different in kind was a half-hour spent at the 
Tarn O'Shanter Inn, which remains to-day just as it was 
the night when Tam and Souter Johnny enjoyed their 
memorable bout. I was escorted into the room and 
placed in the chair occupied by Tam on the occasion in 



Some Wanderings far Afield 183 

question. From the number and hilarity of the com- 
pany which I found assembled, I am persuaded that 
Tam's countrymen, unawed by his trying fate, are still 
following in the footsteps of the poet's hero. But my 
fancy was not with the drinking wights around me. It 
was doubtless upon just such a gathering that Burns 
had looked, or in which, more probably, he had borne 
a part. But the scene at hand seemed prosaic and 
commonplace. Its counterpart of the long ago pos- 
sessed the charm because its humor and pathos had been 
illumined by the poet's touch. As I walked out into the 
gathering darkness, I recalled with amused interest how 
Tam, with faltering courage, had faced the triple ter- 
rors of the storm, the apparitions of Alloway Kirk and 
his irate dame, who by her lonely fireside sat — 

" Knitting her brows like gathering storm. 
And nursing her wrath to keep it warm." 

The trip across the waters of Loch Katrine and Loch 
Lomond and through the Trossachs was all too quickly 
passed. It is a romance-haunted region, where to the 
beauty of nature has been added the glamour with 
which the Wizard of the North has invested all the 
land. 



184 Random Recollections 

As we passed on over the waters of Loch Katrine, the 
scenes about me seemed strangely familiar, and I found 
myself regarding the place where Ellen Douglas had 
walked with Malcolm Graeme, or graciously welcomed 
the Knight of Snowdoun to Ellen's Isle. But even 
my credulity was overtaxed when the guide pointed out, 
with exact precision, the spot where FitzJames's horse 
fell dead, and where that valiant Saxon had grappled 
with Roderick Dhu in mortal combat. Better authen- 
ticated is the spot, near the lake, where brave Rob Roy 
sleeps. 

" Then clear the weeds from off his grave. 
And let us chant a passing stave 
In honor of that hero brave." 

Thus sings the poet at the grave of that intrepid 
Knight of the Road and daring cattle thief. 

At the eastern shore of Loch Lomond we left our 
steamer and took a stage-coach. At this point is the 
little waterfall of Inversnaid where Wordsworth saw the 
Highland Girl, so beautifully celebrated in one of his 
poems. It is wonderful how literature humanizes, and 
with what new interest a spot is invested by some heroic 



Some Wanderings far Afield 185 

act or the fancied presence of a winsome face or girlish 
form. 

" Nor am I loath, though pleased at heart, 
Sweet Highland Girl ! from thee to part ; 
For I, methinks, till I grow old, 
As fair before me shall behold. 
As I do now, the cabin small. 
The lake, the bay, the waterfall : 
And thee, the spirit of them all ! " 

On through the Trossachs I drove until I reached 
Stirling. Here the Old Castle and the view from its 
battlements well repay a visit. In the olden days it 
was regarded as impregnable, and was for years the 
court residence of the Scottish kings. From the turret 
one sees the battle-fields of Bannockburn and Stirling 
Bridge, while to the west stretches in incomparable 
beauty the vale of Monteith. 

Of my stay in Edinburgh I have the most grateful 
recollections. It is indeed a city of great attractions, 
and one can well appreciate the patriotic pride with 
which all Scotchmen regard her. " Edina ! Scotia's 
Darling Seat," is the way in which her poet addresses 
her. While a populous city, yet it is neither size, nor 
wealth, nor trade which lends her preeminence. She is 



186 Random Recollections 

the intellectual, religious, artistic and social center of 
the Northern Kingdom. She appeals to the sentiment 
and patriotism, to the mind and heart of Scotland. 
Here are grouped her Universities, theological semi- 
naries, art galleries, libraries and finest churches. Here, 
too, have been reared the monuments to her sons whom 
she most delights to honor — Scott, Burns, Dugald Stew- 
art, Adam Smith, Ferguson and Ramsay. The castle of 
Edinburgh, Holyrood Palace, and other places of his- 
toric interest are there, but of these I make no note. 
My mind reflects the picture of this city as the embodi- 
ment in stone and bronze, in park and avenue, in dome 
and spire, of the intellectual vigor and tenacious pur- 
pose of this sturdy people. 

From Edinburgh to Abbotsford was a natural, as it 
is an easy journey. In the beautiful country which bor- 
ders the Tweed, Scott built his noble home. The study, 
library, drawing-rooms and armory are shown to visi- 
tors, just as left by the great author. Everything 
within and without the home suggests the man of taste 
and letters, and one, too, whose personality and genius 
people of every land felt a pride in honoring. The 
house abounds in articles of historic interest and beauty 
presented by kings, princes and prelates from all over 



Some Wanderings far Afield 187 

the world. Hard by, amid the ruins of Dryburgh Ab- 
bey, I found his grave. The stone bears the simple 
inscription, " Sir Walter Scott, Baronet. Died Sep- 
tember 26th, 1832." No labored epitaph was needed 
to recount his virtues or perpetuate his fame. 



ENGLAND 

" Earth has not anything to show more fair — 
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by 
A sight so touching in its majesty." 

Thus from the arch of Westminster Bridge, Words- 
worth addresses London. It was the poet's eye, how- 
ever, which could catch the vision of beauty and maj- 
esty in this fog-haunted city. 

London rather appeals to my mind and sentiment. 
It is the picture in miniature of the home of a mighty 
race — the presentment in scene and symbol of its as- 
pirations and acliievements. In monument and temple, 
in palace and prison, church and court, I could read 
the story of a people's progress, and how from this 
pulsing center they had gone forth to conquer the 
wilds or rekindle life amid the embers of dying civil- 
izations. 



188 Random Recollections 

If London is the Mecca of all men of English blood, 
then surely Westminster Abbey is the shrine. I shall 
always recall with profound sensibility the moment 
when first I stood within the portals of that venerable 
Fane. Here since the thirteenth century have prayers 
and praises been offered to the King of Kings. Here 
have been crowned the sovereigns of England since the 
reign of Edward the Confessor. Here are buried scores 
of kings and queens and princes, and greatest of all, 
the men who in the realm of literature and science, in 
the field and forum, in the pulpit and at the Bar, have 
earned the right to sleep their last sleep in this Temple 
of Fame. On every hand are the graves and memorials 
of statesmen, soldiers, poets and divines. It is true 
that many of England's greatest sons find their last 
resting-place outside of its walls. Wellington and Nel- 
son sleep beneath the great dome of St. Paul's, Shake- 
speare in the chancel of the church at Stratford, and 
John Milton in Cripplegate Churchyard. Still, nowhere 
else on earth have been entombed the ashes of such a 
galaxy of great men, or memorials reared to so many 
of equal fame, as in this venerable pile, which is at once 
a Pantheon and a Temple. 

" Here " — Washington Irving says — " are congre- 



Some Wanderings far Afield 189 

gated the bones of great men of past times who have 
filled history with their deeds and the earth with their 
renown." 

The Poet's Corner was to me the place of the great- 
est interest. Macaulay, Dickens and Sheridan lie side 
by side, while just above their graves, upon the walls, 
are the memorials to Shakespeare, Addison, Burns and 
Southey. The monuments to Milton and Gray are 
together, while between those to Dryden and Chaucer 
I found a bust of Longfellow, the only American ever 
honored by a memorial in the Abbey. The monument 
to John Wesley interested me no Httle, as did the one 
to Major Andre, whose pathetic fate always appealed 
so strongly to my sympathy. But time would fail the 
mention of the innumerable memorials with which West- 
minster abounds. Lord Chatham, Fox and Pitt head 
the long list of statesmen; Mansfield, first among the 
world's greatest jurists; Newton, Darwin and Her- 
schel among the scientists ; Bishop Wilberforce, Keble, 
Kingsley, Wordsworth and on with the long and glori- 
ous roll. 

Two impressions above all others were left upon my 
mind: first, the thought that here one might read in 
the lives and achievements of her great men the story 



190 Random Recollections 

of a people's genesis and progress ; and second, the 
catholicity of sentiment which ultimately character- 
izes the public opinion of England with reference to 
her sons. Macaulay, I believe, refers to the Abbey as 
" The Temple of Reconciliation." How true this is 
we appreciate when we recall the great dead who there 
sleep side by side, and the memorials to others equally 
divergent in their lives and sentiments. Churchmen 
and Dissenters, Tories and Whigs, Royalists and Re- 
publicans, the lordl}' heir of wealth and power and the 
humble peasant whose only claim to fame is some in- 
tellectual or heroic achievement. 

The day will no doubt come when England, in the 
plenitude of her tolerance, will erect in this Valhalla a 
memorial to her great Commoner — Oliver Cromwell. 

Next to Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral 
interested me most. The great church, the crowning 
work of Sir Christopher Wren, is a noble pile. While 
only dating from a time subsequent to the great fire, 
yet it occupies the site of old St. Paul's, built during 
the Roman occupation, and tradition asserts that in 
more remote times a temple to Diana stood upon the 
spot. 

The Cathedral, like Westminster Abbev, is filled with 



Some Wanderings far Afield 191 

the graves and memorials of notable men. Here are 
buried the two national heroes whom England most de- 
lights to honor — Nelson and Wellington: the one whose 
prowess made Britannia Ruler of the Wave, and the 
other who at Waterloo vanquished the World's Con- 
queror. Their graves are in the Cathedral's crypt, 
while in the body of the church are their monuments. 
The first bears this inscription : 

" Erected at the Public expense to the memory 
of Vice- Admiral Horatio Viscount Nelson, K.B., to 
record his splendid and unparalleled achievements 
during a life spent in the service of his country and 
terminated in the moment of victory by a glorious 
death in the memorable action off Cape Trafalgar." 

The only inscription upon the monument to the Iron 
Duke is, 

" Arthur, First Duke of Wellington." 

To the English mind there is high inspiration in the 
fact that these two chieftains, victors by sea and land, 
should in their last sleep rest side by side in the heart 
of the nation's capital and within the sacred walls of 
its great Cathedral. Tennyson voiced the exultant 



192 Random Recollections 

thought of his countrymen when, at the burial of Wel- 
lington, he addressed the shade of Nelson with the 
ringing words: 

" Mighty seaman, this is he 
Was great by land as thou by sea. 

Now, to the roll of muffled drums, 
To thee the greatest soldier comes ; 

His foes were thine ; he kept us free ; 
Oh ! give him welcome, this is he. 
Worthy of our gorgeous rites. 
And worthy to be laid by thee." 

I recall with especial interest the monument then 
recently erected to " Chinese Gordon." It bears the 
high encomium which he so well deserved: 

" To Major-General Charles George Gordon, 
C.B., who, at all times and everywhere, gave his 
strength to the weak, his substance to the poor ; his 
sympathy to the suffering ; his heart to God. Born 
at Woolwich, 28th January, 1833. Slain at Khar- 
toum, 26th January, 1885." 

Slain at Khartoum! What a sad story of heroism, 
endurance, mistake and death that simple line recalls. 



Some Wanderings far Afield 193 

Then, too, we can picture his countrymen battling with 
tropic suns, the sands of the deserts and the hosts of the 
Mahdi, to reassert their power and honor his memory. 
When at length the flag of England again floated over 
Khartoum, it was a strange sight which greeted the 
wondering eyes of the Mahdi's followers. Then with 
draped flags and muffled drums, but with all the pomp 
and circumstance of power, the victorious army paid 
their tribute to the memory of the dead hero, and the 
burial rites were celebrated over the spot where the 
hot sands of the desert had sucked up his blood. 

Amid the numerous memorials which filled the Ca- 
thedral, we naturally looked for one to its famous archi- 
tect, but only a simple slab over one of the portals 
commemorates his achievement. It bears the words, 

" Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice." 

Not the least pleasing recollection I have of the great 
Cathedral is that of a service which I attended. Thou- 
sands of people crowded into the nave of the church, 
and after the prayers and praises, listened to a sermon 
by Canon Liddon, whom, with the exception of Canon 
Farrar, I reckoned the strongest preacher I had the 
privilege of hearing during my wanderings abroad. 



lO^ Random Recollections 

After St. Paul's Cathedral, I counted Westminster 
Hall as the place next in interest. While virtually a 
part of the Parliament building, it is far richer in 
historic interest, as it is in its length of years. Built 
by the son of the Conqueror, it has for ages been the 
scene of coronations, abdications and other gorgeous 
ceremonials, but most of all, here have occurred the 
great State trials, which to the lawyer must always 
prove of absorbing interest. Chief, of course, was that 
of Charles the First. A strange paradox — a king tried 
by his subj ects and condemned to death ! Those sturdy 
Ironsides, though victors by arms over the king and 
his forces, would go no further unless with the sanction 
of a Court — albeit the Court was of their own crea- 
tion. It shows the English instinct for law, and deep- 
seated aversion to disregard its forms. 

In this same Hall, Cromwell was acclaimed Lord Pro- 
tector, while eight years afterward his skull surmounted 
one of its pinnacles. Here were tried and condemned 
to death, among many others. Sir William Wallace, Sir 
Thomas More, Sir Walter Raleigh and the Earl of 
Strafford. Here a like fate befell that strange char- 
acter in English history, Guy Fawkes, and here the 
sentence of condemnation was pronounced against that 
great philosopher and jurist, Lord Bacon. 



Some Wanderings far Afield 195 

Perhaps, however, the most picturesque of all its 
many happenings was the impeachment proceedings of 
Warren Hastings. Macaulay has presented a picture 
of the opening scenes of this trial as dramatic in set- 
ting as is brilliant the author's power of description. 

" There have been spectacles " [says Macaula}^] 
" more dazzling to the eye, more gorgeous with 
jewelry and cloth of gold, more attractive to grown- 
up children, than that which was then exhibited 
at Westminster; but, perhaps, there never was a 
spectacle so well calculated to strike a highly cul- 
tivated, a reflective and imaginative mind. All the 
various kinds of interests which belong to the near 
and the distant, to the present and to the past, were 
collected on one spot and in one hour. All the tal- 
ents and all the accomplishments which are devel- 
oped by liberty and civilization were now displayed, 
with every advantage that could be derived both 
from cooperation and from contrast. Every step 
in the proceedings carried the mind either back- 
wards through many troubled centuries, to the days 
when the foundations of our constitution were laid, 
or far away, over boundless seas and deserts, to 
dusky natives, living under strange stars, worship- 
ing strange gods, and writing strange characters 
from right to left. The High Court of Parliament 
was to sit, according; to forms handed down from 



196 Random Recollections 

the days of the Plantagenets, on an Enghshman ac- 
cused of exercising tyranny over the Lord of the 
Holy City of Benares and over the ladies of the 
Princely House of Oude." 

The whole scene was indeed one of great interest and 
brilliancy, but to my mind the center of attraction was 
the group of managers for the prosecution, among them 
Burke, Fox and Sheridan. Neither Greece nor Rome in 
their palmiest days could have marshaled a triumvirate 
so gifted in intellect, learning and rhetorical powers. 
Burke, who Macaulay declares was " superior to every 
orator, ancient or modern, in amplitude of comprehen- 
sion and richness of imagination," was the leading 
figure, and, with Sheridan, bore off the honors of the 
occasion. His speech in opening for the prosecution 
has become a classic, and is a masterpiece of forensic 
eloquence. 

Tradition tells us that on the night when the great 
gathering at Westminster Hall was listening with won- 
der to Sheridan's eloquence, an audience scarcely less 
brilliant at Covent Garden was greeting with like ac- 
claim the first rendition of " The Rivals." Thus, on 
the same day, he won his title to enduring fame in 
the dual role of orator and dramatist. 



Some Wanderings far Afield 197 

Despite the vigor and eloquence with which Burke 
and his associates arraigned the prisoner, he was des- 
tined, as we know, to ultimate triumph. Seven years, 
however, elapsed between the day so graphically de- 
scribed by Macaulay, and the final judgment, and few 
of those who bore a conspicuous part in the drama 
were alive to witness its closing scene. A grave in 
Westminster Abbey was the final judgment of his coun- 
trymen upon the character and achievements of War- 
ren Hastings, while England's peaceful rule over In- 
dia's unnumbered millions attests the marvelous manner 
in which he assisted in laying the foundations of her 
power in that far-away land. 

From the judgment-hall to the prison the way is 
broad and open, and so from Westminster I turned to 
the Tower of London. This aggregation of buildings 
presents many points of interest to the student and 
antiquarian. Portions date from the period of the 
Roman occupation. It has filled the role of palace, 
fortress and prison. Here are now kept the crown 
jewels and great collections of armors, and here are 
exhibited the blocks and axes — grim reminders of a 
bloody past. To me the places of peculiar interest were 
the rooms in which notable State prisoners had been 



198 Random Recollections 

confined ; chief among these was that in which Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh spent twelve years of his life — only at last 
to be led forth to execution at the behest of that pusil- 
lanimous creature, James the Second. A place of most 
pathetic interest is the httle chapel, St. Peter ad Vin- 
cula, with its burial-ground adjoining. Here are buried 
Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, Sir 
Thomas More, Lord Somerset, the Duke of Monmouth 
and many others almost as notable. Some one has said, 
" There is no sadder spot on earth than this little ceme- 
ter3\ Death is there associated, not as in Westminster 
and St. Paul's, with genius and virtue, with public 
veneration and with imperishable renown . . . but with 
whatever is darkest in human nature and in human 
destiny . , . with all the miseries of fallen greatness 
and blighted fame." 

As I walked out of the old prison, away from its 
grim walls and haunting memories, it felt good to be 
in the glad sunshine and mingle once more with the 
cheer and bustle of every-day life. 

Time, however, would fail me to describe all the 
places of interest within the gates of England's me- 
tropolis. Churches, courts, galleries, museums, prisons, 
parks, bridges, monuments greet you on every hand; 



Some Wanderings far Afield 199 

each with its compelling appeal to your sense of sight 
and sentiment. Then, too, the clubs, coffee-houses and 
other like resorts, fragrant with memories of Dr. John- 
son, Addison, Dryden, Lamb, Steele and all that goodly 
company of brilliant minds and genial souls, — these 
places, of course, must always possess a fascination for 
men of English speech and lineage. The whole city, 
however, is a constant reminder of a great past, and 
of the men whose achievements seem a part of its very 
existence. Here Shakespeare conceived his incompar- 
able dramas, and Milton held converse with the skies. 
Here Bacon, like some embodiment of intellectual 
power, pondered ; Carlyle wrote liis virile pages ; 
Thackeray satirized the men and women of his day ; 
and Dickens, with infinite humor and most pathetic pen, 
made his moving appeals. Only less real are the fan- 
cied presence of the characters with which these two 
novelists have filled the old houses and streets of the 
city. Colonel Newcome, Becky Sharp, Arthur Penden- 
nis, David Copperfield, Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Micawber, 
Traddles, Little Dorrit, — these and their myriad asso- 
ciates are there, and in a veritable world of fancy one 
may roam, the whole lit by the light of sweetest mem- 
ories, for these are the friends of our halcyon days. 



200 Random Recollections 

Any recital of my London experiences, however 
short, would be sadly lacking which did not record my 
kindly recollections of the omnibus drivers, and my im- 
pressions of the city, gathered while riding by their 
side. From this coign of vantage, I could take in all 
the street sights and listen with amused interest, not to 
say profit, to the mass of information — part fact and 
part fancy — retailed by these gossipy Jehus. They 
are most expert drivers, and they guide their lumber- 
ing coaches through the mass of vehicles which fill the 
narrow, crooked streets in a manner worthy of the ac- 
complishments of Mr. Four-in-hand Fosbrook. 

In a trip from Charing Cross to the Bank, one may 
catch a picture in miniature of the present life of the 
great city, set in a frame of ancient buildings and 
other memorials of bygone days. 

But how shall I attempt to recount my wanderings 
through England beyond the gates of her great city? 
Where shall I begin, and when could I hope to QnA? 
Cities, towns, hamlets ; great cathedrals, quaint old 
parish churches ; winding roads, lined with hedges and 
trees, the growth of centuries ; castles and manor- 
houses ; battle-fields, spanning the years from Hastings 
to Marston Moor ; ancient universities, and schools 



Some Wanderings far Afield 201 

scarcely less venerable in years; palaces of kings, and 
thatched-roof cottages of yeomen, — all these, like the 
parts of some great panorama, fill the land. The eyes 
with rapture greet the inspiring scenes, while the heart 
acknowledges the subtle charm with which history, tra- 
dition and romance have invested them. 

Only a few of my pilgrimages can be recorded, and 
first among these must be that to Stratford, where was 
bom, and now lies buried, the greatest genius and in- 
tellect of the English-speaking race. 

I recall with keen interest how, without guide or 
guide-book, I stepped from the railway train and made 
my way along the quiet streets of the still, quaint old 
town. Passing the Blue Lion and the Green Dragon, 
I, by happy chance, took up my abode at the Red 
Horse Inn, which I subsequently ascertained Wash- 
ington Irving had patronized and given to fame in 
his delightful " Sketch Book." Of course, the places 
of interest are all well known : the old house where the 
poet was bom; the schoolroom in which he ciphered; 
the cottage of Ann Hathaway, his boyish sweetheart; 
the park, where he displayed his propensities as a 
poacher; the New Place, as it is known, where the only 
remaining memory of his time are the mulberry trees 



202 Random Recollections 

beneath which he meditated; and finally, the church 
within whose chancel rests his bones, and wliich has 
thus become a shrine to men and women the wide world 
over. The country about is one of quiet, restful 
beauty, while the old town remains, I was assured, lit- 
tle changed since the day when about its streets walked 
one of the most remarkable men of all time — one whose 
genius sounded all the depths of knowledge, and yet 
of whose life we know next to nothing. Everything 
about the place left an indelible impression upon my 
mind. Everything, from the bright brass kettles in 
the bar of the Red Horse Inn, to the stately memorial 
which has been reared as a tribute to, rather than as a 
memorial of, the immortal Shakespeare. 

Near by is Warwick Castle and the ruins of Kenil- 
worth, both of which I visited with an interest which 
can be readily appreciated. Warwick Castle is one 
of the best preserved of the many ancient castles of 
old England. It abounds with treasures of the greatest 
historic value, both in and out. I noted with especial 
interest some beautiful cedars, which I was informed 
had been brought back from the Holy Land by the 
Crusaders and planted there under the shadow of the 
Castle. 



Some Wandermgs far Afield 203 

Kenilworth, of course, is simply a ruin, overgrown 
with vines, but one's fancy pictures it with the gor- 
geous scenes portrayed by Scott in his great novel. 

Next in fragrance are my memories of a trip to 
Oxford. 

One of the delights of my boyhood days was reading 
" Verdant Green," the story of an Oxford undergrad- 
uate. So it was with a mind filled with pictures of the 
old city, its Colleges and the incidents which mark the 
associations of Town and Gown, that I took up my 
abode at the Mitre, an ancient hostelry, hard by the 
gates of Christ Church College. 

It would be difficult to fancy a situation more at- 
tractive to a reflective mind than that presented by 
this great University. Here the charm of the past is 
linked with the energy and enthusiasm of the present. 
Here venerable buildings and beautiful memorials tell 
of the centuries of intellectual effort and achievement, 
while the virile life of the young manhood which throng 
her courts gives assurance that Oxford, like the world 
itself, is always young. Matthew Arnold speaks of 
Oxford as " Whispering from her towers the last en- 
chantments of the Middle Age." As one wanders 
through her gardens, courts and terraces, or beneath 



204 Random Recollections 

the shadow of her ivj-covered walls, he feels indeed 
that the spell of enchantment rests upon all the scene. 

I regarded with peculiar interest the great dining- 
halls of the various Colleges, adorned with portraits of 
their distinguished sons, and the apartments of the 
undergraduates. Into the latter I peered with a feel- 
ing akin to pain, because I knew my old friends Ver- 
dant Green, Mr. Bouncer — not to mention the latter's 
dogs, Hus and Bus — and all their goodly comrades, 
would not greet me. The nearest approach I got to 
the character and happenings of their time was to sit 
within the precincts of Brasenose College and chat with 
the old janitor of the life of the undergraduates — of 
the conflicts between Town and Gown, and all the in- 
cidents and interests of college days. 

Just outside the city of London, among many others, 
are three places within close radius which well repay 
a visit : Windsor, Eton and the old church of Stoke 
Poges, I spent a delightful day at the first. The 
grounds of the Castle, its apartments — to which the 
public have admission — the beautiful chapel, and the 
Frogmore Memorial, where is buried Albert, the Prince 
Consort, were all visited. Here, however, as at Eton, 
my republican sj^mpathies were somewhat ruffled by 



Some Wanderings far Afield 205 

the reflection that it was the accident of birth which 
gave to its inmates the pecuhar privileges and high 
inspiration which invest palace and school. Eton, with 
its stately buildings, its centuries of patronage by the 
great and rich, the very uniforms of its boys — broad- 
cloth jackets and silk hats — all seem to suggest that 
here the way to learning is open to those who have, 
rather than to those who need. 

Howbeit, I doubt not there is a place in the economy 
of a great nation for a class of men who from boy- 
hood have felt the obligations of noblesse oblige. Wel- 
lington declared that upon the playgrounds of Eton 
were nurtured the men whose spirits animated the in- 
vincible square at Waterloo and drove back in de- 
feat the old guard of Napoleon. 

Rugby, of course, is another of England's ancient 
foundations devoted to the schooling of her youth. It 
possessed for me even greater attractions than Eton. 
It was an old acquaintance, because when a boy I had 
read " Tom Brown's School Days " at Rugby, and in 
later years the beautiful poem in which Matthew Arnold 
paid tribute to the great master who sleeps within the 
chapel. 

Stoke Poges is a typical country parish church and 



206 Kandojn Recollections 

burial-ground of the kind which are to be found all 
through rural England. Its peculiar claim upon our 
interest, of course, arises from the fact that here Gray 
wrote his " Elegy," that masterpiece of pure English 
and mellifluous verse ; and here, too, the poet is buried. 
There is something peculiarly appealing to me about 
these old churches, surrounded with the graves of those 
who aforetime worshiped at their altars. How much 
more appropriate that her children should here rest 
than in some spot hard by the world's tramping feet, 
or even amid sylvan scenes devoid of any sign of the 
faith in whose surety they looked for inmiortality. 
With Longfellow — 

" I like the good old Saxon word 
Which calls the burial-ground ' God's Acre.' " 

Of the cathedral towns of England, if indeed it may 
be entitled to that distinction, the one of which I have 
the most pleasant recollections is Chester. I of course 
appreciate that the Cathedral itself is not so preten- 
tious or beautiful as those of York, Winchester, Salis- 
bury, Ely and many others ; but all in all, Chester 
seems most attractive, when I run over in my mind the 



Some Wanderings far Afield 207 

list of towns visited in which these great monuments 
of medieval faith and art lift their heads. The old 
city is itself one of the most ancient in England. It 
was a walled town, and these venerable protectors of its 
people remain intact to-day, just as in the more trou- 
blous times. Now, however, they serve as promenades 
and playgrounds. It was from the walls of Chester 
that Charles watched the battle and saw his cause go 
down before the redoubtable prowess of Cromwell and 
his followers. 

But any recital of my wanderings through England, 
however meager, would be incomplete if it failed to 
record my impressions of her vast industrial and com- 
mercial interests, as exemplified in the great manufac- 
turing centers and trading ports which I visited. Of 
these, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and 
Liverpool were, with the exception of London, the most 
conspicuous. In the first-mentioned city the Royal Ju- 
bilee Exposition, commemorative of the fiftieth year 
of Victoria's illustrious reign, was in progress. I thus 
had an opportunity not only to observe the manufac- 
turing interests of Manchester, but of the nation itself, 
presented within the walls of the great exhibition. 

The whole country adjacent to these centers — indeed 



208 Random Recollections 

from Manchester to London — is filled with factories, 
forges and furnaces. Speaking broadly, I was never 
out of sight of a smoke-stack during the two hundred 
miles of travel between the two cities. The enormous 
products of these veritable beehives of industry are car- 
ried to every quarter of the globe by the merchant 
marine of old England, a myriad fleet which constitutes 
largely over one half of the sea-going vessels of the 
world. At Liverpool I saw, as nowhere else, the ex- 
tent of this far-reaching commerce. Her great docks 
filled with the shipping of every clime, the vast con- 
course of vessels flying the Union Jack, all attested 
England's primacy upon the sea — a primacy, be it said 
to her credit, not alone in engines of war, but in the 
caravans of commerce which bring together in recipro- 
cal interest and mutual good-will the widely severed 
peoples of the globe. Let it be remembered, too, that 
this great commerce has been built upon principles of 
far-sighted statesmanship, which find their exemplifi- 
cation in the policy of the open door at every port of 
trade where England's influence is supreme. 

As I contemplated these evidences of her progress in 
commerce and wealth, I recalled with pleasure that in 
the selfsame age which witnessed these great material 



Soine Wanderings far Afield 20^ 

achievements she had Tennyson and Robert Browning 
as her poets and seers, and Gladstone and Arthur Bal- 
four to sound the key-note of her national life. 

When at length I stood upon the shores of the Chan- 
nel, en route to the continent, I could but realize that 
what was to me old England was to the peoples living 
farther east a new land. Art, science, literature, com- 
merce, law and government, — these were the high at- 
tainments of the nations bordering the Mediterranean, 
while northern Germany and the British Isles lay as in 
primeval days. South and east of the great inland 
sea, before Greece and Rome had reached their zenith, 
other civilizations had risen and waned. Assyria, Baby- 
lon and Egypt, these were mighty powers, of whose 
glories now only ruined temples and tenantless tombs 
remain. What were the causes of their decline.? Is 
England great only because she is young.'' Will she too, 
with her kin-folk Germany and America, go the way 
of all the nations of the past.'' Will Macaulay's vision 
of the traveler from New Zealand sketching from the 
broken arch of Westminster Bridge the ruins of St. 
Paul's Cathedral be fulfilled.'' Are nations doomed to 
a period of growth, greatness and decay ? Wherewithal 
shall a people make enduring their civilization, or es- 



210 Random Recollections 

tablish for all time the muniments of their national 
greatness? I am persuaded that with power must be 
linked justice; that righteousness and love must in- 
spire its aspirations and dominate its policies, if a 
nation would survive the strain and stress of time and 
change. This warning thought has been voiced for 
England in the words of her poet : 

" For heathen heart that puts her trust 
In reeking tube and iron shard, 
All valiant dust that builds on dust. 
And guarding calls not Thee to guard." 

But to the nation great with all the triumphs of this 
golden age, and jealous to perpetuate unimpaired her 
ideals and power, there comes across the ages the 
reassuring words of the great prophet to the Hebrews : 
*' They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
they shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, 
and not faint." 




CHAPTER VIII 

At Home 

IRGINIA ! How manifold the thoughts 
and sentiments which that name awak- 
ens ! How inspiring the vision of her 
genesis, and how romantic the Hves of 
the men who wrought to make it real! 
The name carries the mind back to the days of the Great 
Queen in whose honor the new-found land was chris- 
tened ; to the brilliant galaxy of poets who adorned her 
reign ; to her dauntless seamen and intrepid soldiers, 
and the wild spirit of adventure which sent them forth 
to find under distant stars new lands and strange peo- 
ples. As Charles Kingsley says, " The mighty shout 
of joy which greeted Elizabeth's entry into London 
was the key-note of fifty glorious years — the expres- 
sion of a new-found strength and freedom, which vented 

911 



212 Random Recollections 

itself at home in drama and in song, abroad in mighty 
conquests, achieved with all the laugliing recklessness of 
boys at play." 

We recall, too, the Spanish Armada and its miracu- 
lous destruction in the Channel, thus opening a way 
across the Atlantic to men of English blood and Protes- 
tant faith. Drake bears the Union Jack to victory on 
every sea, while Raleigh makes the first attempt to 
people with Anglo-Saxons the Western wilds, and thus 
becomes in truth Virginia's founder. Undaunted by 
Raleigh's failures to perfect a permanent settlement, 
Wingfield and Newport and John Smith, with their 
bold comrades, set sail for the Chesapeake, and when 
the keels of the Godspeed, Discovery and Susan Con- 
stant touched the shores of Virginia, life in the New 
World for men of English blood had its initial day. 
Years of struggle with famine, disease and death; the 
cruelty of the savage and the hardships of the forest 
followed, but the colonists held firm to their resolve 
to win the land. At times the dark picture of Indian 
cruelty is relieved by the friendship of some native 
for these new-comers on the James. The story of 
Pocahontas is a fragrant reminder of such devotion. 

There is something pathetic in the accounts which 



At Home 213 

the early chroniclers have left of the efforts of these 
colonists to keep alive the customs of old England, and 
to reproduce amid the untoward conditions of the new 
world the institutions and habits which sweetened life 
in the land across the sea. Thus we find them celebrat- 
ing in an improvised sanctuary the sacred rites of their 
first Christmas-tide. With holl}- and running cedar 
they adorned their church of logs and canvas, and in 
the familiar liturgy of the mother-isle kept the ancient 
feast. Later they built for themselves homes along 
the waters of the James, the York and the Potomac, 
which in the names they bore, and a certain atmo- 
sphere of family pride and loyalty to ideals, faintly 
reproduced the manor-houses of old England. 

For four decades the colony, composed of rather 
heterogeneous elements, continued its slow but ever- 
gaining battle for existence, until the triumph of Crom- 
well sent in swarms across the Atlantic the Cavaliers who 
sought in the new land an escape from the proscriptions, 
civil and religious, which followed his advent to power. 
This class of Englishmen had from the first been found 
among the colonists, but when the cause of the king 
went down in defeat they came in such numbers as 
to give to the new commonwealth its predominant in- 



214 Random Recollections 

tellectual, social and religious characteristics. It was 
from this breed and the sturdy Scotch-Irish which later 
peopled the hills and valleys beyond the Blue Ridge, 
that sprung the line of great men whose achievements 
have lent such luster to the annals of Virginia. 

The land to which they came was well worth the win- 
ning. It was a country of broad rivers, blue moun- 
tains, fertile valleys and majestic forests. No wonder 
that these new-comers, while jealous to keep alive filial 
thoughts of home, felt their hearts move with ever- 
increasing affection for this favored land. For ages it 
had lain as in primeval days. Their valor and en- 
durance had won it from the savage and the wilds. 
Their genius for government and reverence for home 
had endowed it from the first with the blessings of law 
and social order. England thus in time became more 
and more a memory, while Virginia was to them the 
land of promise into which they had entered, and en- 
tered to stay. 

In some such fashion was born and grew the Vir- 
ginian's love for his native State — for the very face 
of the land, and the skies and stars which hang above 
it. The trials and triumphs of passing years, the 
achievements of her great sons, the desolations of war. 



At Home 215 

and the problems which so often disturb her peace, 
but added to the fervor of his affection ; so that the 
time never came when he did not stand ready to devote 
hfe and fortune to maintain her cause, and in the mo- 
ment of supreme surrender to declare, " Dulce et de- 
corum est pro patria mori." 

In the " Map of Virginia," as it is called, written 
by Captain John Smith, and published at Oxford in 
1612, it is recorded that in June, 1608, Smith left 
Jamestown " to perform his discoverie," with a com- 
pany composed of " six gentlemen " and " seven sol- 
diers," the names of all which are given. Among the 
'• gentlemen " of this expedition appears the name 
of " Thomas Momford." This party discovered the Po- 
tomac River, and returned to Jamestown on the 21st 
of July, 1608. On the 24th of July, 1608, Smith 
again sets out for a voyage of exploration along 
the shores of the Chesapeake, and again " Thomas 
Momford, Gentleman," is recorded as being of the 
party. 

In Smith's " General Historie of Virginia," pub- 
lished in London in 1624, there appears at the end of 
the fifth chapter the announcement, " Written by Wal- 
ter Russell, Anas Todkill and Thomas Mumford." 



216 Random Recollections 

The foregoing is the first mention of the Momford 
or Munford name among Virginia folk. 

During the next half century the number greatly in- 
creased, as is shown by the many land grants issued 
to men of that name. In 1680 James Mountford had 
become the owner of large tracts of land in Westover 
parish, Charles City County. In 1701 his eldest son, 
Robert, married Martha Kennon, daughter of Richard 
Kennon, of Conjurer's Neck, Henrico Count3^ Despite 
the rather unpropitious name of the place from which 
Robert selected his bride, fortune seems to have fa- 
vored him, and in due time we find him the proprietor 
of a large landed estate called " Haycocks," situated on 
the Appomattox River, near the site of the present 
city of Petersburg. In the minutes of the vestry of 
Bristol parish (old Blandford Church), we find him 
present at the meeting, October 30, 1720 — the first 
of which any record remains — and three years after- 
ward his son, James Mountford, was elected a member 
of the same body. In 1722 he represented the County 
of Prince George in the House of Burgesses. In 1733 
we find him still enj oying life upon his estate at " Hay- 
cocks," because Colonel William Byrd, in his " Journey 
to the Land of Eden," records that he dined with Colo- 



At Home 217 

nel Mumf ord at his home, and adds : " An honester a 
man and a fairer trader, or a kinder friend, this coun- 
try never produced ; God send any of his sons may have 
the grace to take after him." 

In 1735 Robert Munford died, leaving surviving 
three sons, James, Robert and Edward. 

This second Robert was elected a vestryman of Bris- 
tol parish, to succeed his father, and like his father 
represented the County of Prince George in the House 
of Burgesses. He married Annie Bland, daughter of 
Richard Bland, of Jordan's Point, James River, and 
Elizabeth Randolph — the latter the youngest child of 
the celebrated William Randolph, of Turkey Island, 
James River. Annie Bland's sister, Mary Bland, mar- 
ried Henry Lee, of Lee's Hall, Potomac River; and 
her other sister, Elizabeth Bland, married William Bev- 
erley, of Blandville, Rappahannock River. Thus were 
united the Randolphs, Blands, Beverleys, Lees and 
Munfords. 

The second son of this Robert Munford and Annie 
Bland Munford, was also named Robert, and he mar- 
ried his cousin Annie Beverley, the daughter of William 
Beverley and Elizabeth Bland Beverley just referred 
to. This Robert Munford lived in the County of Meek- 



218 Random Recollections 

lenburg, and was a person of no little importance in 
his day and generation. While quite a young man 
he was a soldier in the French-Indian Wars. In the 
" Bland Papers " there are several letters from him 
to his uncle, Colonel Theodoric Bland, Sr., which give 
interesting details with respect to his experience as a 
soldier, and above all his estimate of his commanding 
officer, George Washington, who was then only about 
twenty-six years of age. In a letter under date of 
July 6, 1758, from Fort Cumberland, he writes: 

" After being delayed at Winchester for five or 
six weeks longer than expected ( in which time I was 
ordered express to Williamsburg, and allowed but a 
day after mj'^ return to prepare), we push'd off 
into the wide ocean. I was permitted to walk every 
step of the way to this humble fort, to eat little, 
and lay hard ; over mountains, thro' mud and water, 
yet as merry and hearty as ever. Our flankers and 
sentries pretend they saw the enemy daily, but they 
never approached us. X detachment is this moment 
ordered off to clear a road thirty miles, and our 
companies to cover the working party. We are 
in fine scalping ground, I assure you. The guns 
pop about us, and you may see the fellows prick up 
their ears like deer every moment. Our Colonel is 



At Home 219 

an example of fortitude in either danger or hard- 
ships, and by his easy, polite behavior has gained 
not only the regard, but the affection of both officers 
and soldiers. He has kindly invited me to his table 
for the campaign, offered me any sum of money 
I may have occasion for, without charging either 
principal or interest, and signified his approbation 
of my conduct hitherto in such a manner as is to me 
of advantage." 

Along with this letter comes a shorter one, to his 
aunt, Mrs. Bland, whom he addresses as " Hon'd 
Madam," concluding with the injunction, " My love 
to the lassies." 

Later he was for years a representative in the House 
of Burgesses, and in the troublous times which just an- 
tedated the Revolution we find him with his kinsfolk, 
the Blands, Beverleys and Lees, bearing a brave part 
against the aggressions of his gracious sovereign, King 
George III. On the monument recently erected at Wil- 
liamsburg to mark the site of the old House of Bur- 
gesses, his name is recorded as among the members who 
joined in the non-importation league, which was de- 
signed to change the policy of the British Ministry 
toward the colonists, by crippling the trade of the 



220 Random Recollections 

two countries. In the war which followed he rose to 
the rank of Major, and in due time was gathered to 
his fathers, leaving behind him two daughters and a 
son. One of his daughters married Otway Byrd, son 
of Colonel William Byrd, of Westover; and the other. 
General Richard Kennon, a soldier of the Revolution. 
His son was William Munford, who happily escaped the 
dangers of the war by being born too late to bear a 
man's part, and who afterward gained no little fame 
as the translator of Homer's Iliad, and the author of 
the Virginia Law Reports which bear his name. He 
was a member of the Executive Council, and frequently 
represented Mecklenburg in the State Senate and 
House of Delegates. Tliis William Munford was my 
grandfather, and possesses for our narrative at this 
time an additional interest, because more than a cen- 
tury ago he lived upon the spot which to-day for me 
and mine bears the name of home. 

The records of the State Land Office of Virginia 
show that in the year 1675 Sir William Berkeley, then 
Governor of the colony, issued to William Byrd, Sr., 
letters patent for a tract of land at the Falls of James 
River. Upon this land his son William Byrd, Jr., sub- 
sequently laid out the City of Richmond, and thus 



At Home 221 

became its founder. Included in this boundary was the 
lot situated on the summit of what was then called by 
the Indians Shockoe Hill — a name which survives to 
this day — and which lot is now prosaically designated 
as No. 503 East Grace Street. 

By a series of alienations which we need not pause 
to recount, this land in 1792 became the property of 
Chancellor George Wythe, and here stood the home 
of that distinguished jurist until the date of his death. 

Of all these men, Berkeley, Byrd and Wythe, much 
of interest might be written, but reference here will 
only be made to them in so far as they touch this nar- 
rative. 

Sir William Berkeley was for years the Governor of 
the colony. He ruled with a devotion to the cause of 
his king and the Established Church, which has served 
to keep alive his fame in the condemnations of those 
who contemned his policy. He it was who precipitated 
Bacon's Rebellion, by his persistent neglect to guard 
the colonists against the hostile Indians, and then with 
an iron hand encompassed the downfall of the uprising 
and the execution of its leaders. Among the latter was 
my kinsman Giles Bland, who for his indiscreet patriot- 
ism the stout old Royalist " hanged by his neck," as the 



222 Random Recollections 

ancient formula ran. So by this pleasant circumstance, 
as well as the fact that his official act, as we have seen, 
first segregated what is now 503 East Grace Street 
from primeval wilds and dedicated it to the service of 
civilized man, the old Governor has a place in this nar- 
rative. 

William Byrd, Jr., was notable as the owner of 
Westover, whose glories have not 3'et faded, and as a 
man of letters, refinement and varied achievements, 
many of which are recounted in Latin on the monument 
which still marks his grave in the garden at Westover. 
The sister of my grandfather William Munford mar- 
ried his son Otway Byrd, and thus because of family 
ties and former ownership of the land on which now 
stands our home, this courtly gentleman must be re- 
membered. Nor should we in passing forget his daugh- 
ter, the beautiful Evelyn Byrd, whose romantic life and 
untimely death have afforded so many American novel- 
ists themes for romance, and whose beauty may still 
be traced in the portrait which hangs on the walls at 
Lower Brandon. 

George Wythe was one of that wonderful galaxy 
of men which arose in Virginia just prior to the Revo- 
lution. He was a member of the Continental Congi'ess, 



At Home 223 

of the convention which framed the Federal Consti- 
tution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
and Professor of Law at William and Mary College, 
where he numbered Thomas Jefferson and John Mar- 
shall among his students. Later he became the Chan- 
cellor of Virginia, and in consequence of his election 
to this position removed from Williamsburg and took 
up his abode in Richmond at the time and place above 
indicated. But it is of him as professor of law when 
William Munford was a student, that we must first 
speak. 

I have before me a copy of the " William and Mary 
College Historical Magazine," in which are published 
a number of letters from William Munford to his col- 
lege friend John Coalter, afterward Judge of our 
Supreme Court. In one of these letters, under date of 
June 13, 1790, young Munford writes: 

" My great resource is Mr. Wythe. If I were to 
live with him I should at the same time think a great 
point gained, and be highly pleased. Indeed, from 
some conversations we have had together I think 
it likely he will agree. If so, your friend's fortune 
is made. Nothing could advance me faster in the 
world than the reputation of having been educated 



2'24f Random Recollections 

by Mr. Wythe, for such a man as he casts a Hght 
upon all around him." 

These commendable aspirations of the young student 
were happily realized, and so he entered the household 
of Professor Wythe while at William and jNIar}^, and 
upon the removal of the latter to Richmond he con- 
tinued for several years a student of the law and a 
member of his family, in the house then situated, as we 
have seen, on the spot where now stands our home. 

In Mordecai's delightful book, " Richmond in By- 
gone Days," there are many references to the old 
Chancellor, his home and his friends. After referring 
to the Du Val lot, which he says was the scene of Ralph 
Ringwood's adventure as told by Washington Irving, 
and that the celebrated William Wirt occupied the 
dwelling which formerly stood there, he proceeds : 

" On the opposite square sits the unpretending 
abode of that learned, wise and excellent man 
George Wythe, one of the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and whose life is interwoven 
with the history of Virginia, from his earliest man- 
hood to his latest years. 

" A fine tulip poplar (Miss Murray would say 



At Home 225 

Liriodendron Tulipifera) planted by Mr. Wythe, 
marks the corner where the house stood." 

Mr. Mordecai then proceeds to record the fact that no 
less a person than Henry Clay was another inmate of 
the old Chancellor's home, and a recipient of his sym- 
pathy and assistance: 

" Henry Clay when a youth wrote in the office of 
Peter Tinsley, clerk of the court in which Mr, 
Wythe presided, and his attention was no doubt at- 
tracted by young Clay's deportment. The judge 
invited him to his house, gave him advice and in- 
struction, and it was from this source probably that 
Mr. Clay got the first insight of his profession. A 
letter from Mr. Clay to Mr. Minor dated May 3rd, 
1851, and published in the ' Virginia Historical 
Register,' Vol. V, says : ' My first acquaintance with 
Mr. Wythe was in 1793, in my sixteenth year, when 
I was a clerk in his court, and he then probably 
threescore years and ten. His right hand was dis- 
abled by gout, or rheumatism, and I acted as his 
amanuensis, and wrote the cases he reported. It 
caused me a great deal of labor, not understanding 
a single Greek character, to write quotations from 
Greek authors which he inserted in copies of his 
reports to Mr. Adams, Thomas Jefferson and one 



226 Random Recollections 

or two others. I wrote them by copying each char- 
acter from a book. Mr. Wythe was one of the pur- 
est, best and learned of men in classical lore that I 
ever knew.' " 

From an article prepared by the late Dr. William 
P. Palmer, who was an antiquarian of no mean attain- 
ments, I take the following extract, in which allusion 
is made to the above-mentioned tree planted by the old 
Chancellor, and how he was wont to gather his friends 
under its shade. Says Dr. Palmer: 

" From the best authority it is known that the 
great Chancellor held it in high favor. When it was 
young he cherished and nurtured it. Under its 
shade he and his friends spent many hours in the 
enjoyment of the society so congenial to each other, 
indulging in the literary taste for which they and 
he were so fitted. It is said that the learned co- 
terie of which he was the distinguished center, might 
often be seen reading the ancient classics in the 
original, and discussing the theme suggested by 
both Greek and Latin authors. Among these wel- 
come guests were the two Parsons Blair and Bu- 
chanan; the Munfords; Randolphs and Major Du 
Val, his devoted neighbor across the street, and the 
three noted medical men of the day. Doctors Mc- 
Clung, McCaw and Foushee." 



At Home 227 

Upon the conclusion of young Munford's studies as 
a law student, he left the hospitable house of his friend 
and benefactor and returned to his home in Mecklen- 
burg, from which county, as we have seen, he subse- 
quently returned to Richmond, and took up his abode 
on the corner of Fifth and Canal streets. Young Mun- 
ford subsequently showed his appreciation of the Chan- 
cellor's friendship by bestowing upon his oldest son the 
name " George Wythe." Later he performed the sad 
duty of pronouncing the oration on the occasion of 
the funeral of the Chancellor, which took place from 
the Capitol. 

But the venerable Chancellor, learned and benignant, 
lies in the churchyard under the spire of old St. John's, 
his young friend Munford is established in his own 
home, busy with his law-books and his Homer, while the 
new protege, Henry Clay, is laying the foundations 
of a great fame in the then frontier commonwealth of 
Kentucky. The old dwelling where with unostentatious 
hospitality the Chancellor had been wont to gather his 
neighbors, has been torn down and on its site is rising 
a mansion which remains to this day unchanged in its 
graceful lines and harmonious proportions. Abraham 
Warwick, head of an ancient family, is the new owner, 



228 Random Recollections 

and the house is the marriage settlement upon his in- 
tended bride, Miss CheveUie, the beauty and heiress of 
the city. I have before me the deed of marriage settle- 
ment, in which Warwick dedicates the house to the 
sacred service of wife and children. 

Long years of prosperous fortune follow this au- 
spicious beginning. The fame of the house, the grace 
of its hostess, and the elegance of its appointments, 
spread beyond the borders of the State, and for years 
it was a center of refinement and good cheer. Here I 
will again quote from the article above referred to, 
written by Dr. Palmer, descriptive of the old house : 

" Mr. Warwick spared no pains or money in its 
construction. The bricks were brought from Balti- 
more ; its outside decorations were of white marble, 
and its classic entrance was made chiefly of the 
same material. The timbers were the best in the 
country and were selected by his special agent, who 
is now living, one of the oldest and best known citi- 
zens of Richmond. Although more than sixty years 
have passed since it was erected, and though its 
grounds were contracted by recent so-called im- 
provements, it is still a striking feature of the city. 
The spot which it adorns was long known as the 
highest point in Richmond. Its elevated situation, 



At Home 229 

graceful proportions and finish, would suggest to 
any stranger or observer that it was planned by 
a man of taste, and must be the home of a gen- 
tleman." 

Time, however, worked its inevitable changes, while 
the Civil War added its desolating touch to lives and 
fortunes. After fifty years of the Warwicks, father 
and son, came the Lees, Mr. and Mrs. George Lee, 
gentle people who kept alive in a quiet way the best 
traditions of the house. Later the Pages — Major Legh 
R. Page became the owner. This gentleman was one of 
the most distinguished members of the Richmond Bar. 
At his hospitable board he was accustomed to gather 
the prominent judges and lawyers of his day. Rich- 
mond is in the circuit over whose Federal Court the 
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States are accustomed to preside. This circumstance 
brings to the city quite frequently the incumbents of 
that high office. Scarcely a visit, therefore, was made 
to Richmond by the late Chief Justice Waite, or his 
successor Chief Justice Fuller, during the lifetime of 
Major Page, which did not find them his guests along 
with a goodly company of men only less distinguished. 
Thus the place took on again some of the characteristics 



230 Random Recollections 

which marked the days of Chancellor Wythe and his 
associates. 

These recitals bring us down to the time of the 
present ownership, but how the house became for me 
a home is, in the words of Mr. Kipling, " another 
storj\" 

It was many years ago that I saw for the first time 
the young woman, the magic of whose presence was to 
work this change. The occasion was a social function 
at the home of a mutual friend. The goodly company 
of accomplished men and women in evening toilets, the 
music, lights and flowers, combined to make the event 
all that the most ambitious hostess could have desired. 
Among the guests was a young girl who, it was evident, 
had not yet made her formal debut in the social realm. 
With reluctant footsteps she seemed to stand upon its 
borders and regard with rather unapproving eyes the 
prospect beyond. There was about her an air of min- 
gled diffidence and audacity. A lithe figure, earnest 
brown eyes, clean-cut features, — these were the salient 
points in the picture. This much I took in at a glance, 
and with it came the startled thought that no more 
should I stand alone upon the threshold of my individ- 
ual life — to paraphrase the lines of Mrs. Browning. 



At Home 231 

The impression thus formed was deepened when a year 
or more later I was formally presented. 

I need not recount the story — old as Creation, yet as 
fresh as the dawn. It was, however, no instance of 
vcnij vidi, vici. Years followed in which the hope of 
success alternated with the fear of failure. The wooing 
and the winning of a woman's heart ! What analyst 
of fancy — what magician of fortune can portray the 
how and the why.'' Favoring stars, however, ruled my 
horoscope, and at length in their courses the long- 
hoped-for event was declared. 

Perhaps it may be well to record here some of the 
experiences of those years in so far as they bear upon 
the social customs of the times. The occasion of my 
formal presentation was a New Year's Day reception, 
and the opportunity thus afforded sprung from the 
custom then universal in Richmond of dedicating that 
day to making and receiving calls. From the early 
hours of the forenoon until late at night groups of men 
might be seen going from house to house. With more 
or less preparation, the hostesses in these several homes 
— with groups of young women assisting — stood ready 
to welcome the tide of inflowing callers. Collations were 
spread to add good cheer to the friendly salutations of 



232 Random Recollections 

the day. It was a time to revive old friendships and 
to form new ones ; to make good resolves, and amid the 
hopeful atmosphere everywhere prevailing picture 
bright forecasts of the new year which lay beyond. 
Neighbors caught afresh some of the mystical fellow- 
ship which comes with the breaking of bread, the pledge 
of loyalty and all the gentle amenities which flower 
within the sacred precincts of the home. It was a day 
of days for the debutantes whose fresh young faces 
greeted you with infectious enthusiasm and lent to the 
scene some of the lyric charm of which youth is the 
fortunate possessor. Of all this and so much more 
the day stood for, and with genuine regret we have to 
record that the genial custom no longer finds a place 
among the habits of our times. 

Newspapers usually announced the homes where call- 
ers would be welcomed, with the names of those who 
would receive. Thus it was that I scanned with par- 
ticular interest the papers on the day in question, if 
haply I might find where the lady who had caught my 
errant fancy would hold her court. I recall with amuse- 
ment the comments of a favorite aunt — a lady of the 
old regime — upon the names of those announced to re- 
ceive. Some were fair and some were homely, but worst 



At Home 233 

of all some could not boast a family tree, and the glory 
of their new-made riches seemed to bar rather than ad- 
mit them to the charmed circle of society. High enco- 
miums, however, were accorded the coterie of young 
women among whom our lady had a place. " I have 
watched her," said my aunt, " for many years. She 
was a scholar at my son-in-law's school. She is as lovely 
in mind as she is in person, and is a sensible girl — not 
crazy about men." Not crazy about men ! In the 
years which followed there seemed a grim irony in the 
fact that she had been commended to my favor because 
of her little concern for men. 

The White Sulphur Springs—" The Old White," as 
we loved to call it — was an institution which held a 
unique place in the affections of our people. It pre- 
sented a curious blending of democratic simplicity and 
social exclusiveness. There were no private cottages; 
all the guests inhabited the little one-story buildings 
which nestled under the ancient oaks at the base of the 
hills, or took their chance of comfort in the great hotel 
which stood in the center of the lawn. All ate in one 
immense dining-room, gathered in the same parlor and 
danced in the same hall. With guests numbering over 
a thousand, these primitive conditions required a strict 



234 Random Recollections 

censorship on the part of those who stood sponsors for 
the social proprieties of the old place. Ancient dames 
who had been wooed and won under those selfsame oaks 
where now their grandchildren played, gave the word 
which fixed the social status of each new-comer. Those 
from Virginia, Baltimore, Savannah, Charleston, Mo- 
bile and New Orleans enjoyed a certain immunity from 
investigation, because their places had long ago been 
determined. It was a very tolerant censorship, how- 
ever, and the possessor of good manners and a respec- 
table wardrobe could count upon reasonable treatment 
at the hands of those Avho held social sway in that little 
world. 

There was a strange mixture of motives which 
brought this numerous company to the Springs. Some 
drank the water, some rode or drove, some played poker, 
some talked politics, some played whist, some danced the 
German, but the great majority of those who each year 
sought its precincts were impelled by the social instinct. 
The Old White was the social center where gathered 
the best society of Virginia and the South. iNIcn and 
women met there from sheer love of seeing each other. 
Attractive people — attractive because of wit, grace, 
beauty, heroism or the like — were accorded a certain 



At Home 235 

precedence. The loveliest woman — generally a young 
girl beautiful in person and gracious in mien— was in 
the parlance of the hour " The Belle of the White,*" 
as she was the Queen of Hearts — old and young. It 
was a time and place for love-making, and the number 
of those who reckon the romance of their lives to have 
here received its first impulse can never be known 
until the records in Cupid's keeping are unrolled. I 
can recall many pleasant pictures of the old place, but 
the most vivid impression is that of its social life in 
which moved courtly men and gracious women, with here 
and there a face and form which the flight of 3'ears has 
only served to render more winsome. 

Another social custom was that of house-parties. 
Hospitality is an ancient and much-esteemed virtue in 
Virginia. A cordial welcome awaits you in the homes 
of her people — especially in the old country-houses 
where the usages and traditions of the past have not 
been broken by the spirit and habits of more modern 
days. But house-parties were instances of hospitality 
where the guests were selected with a special reference 
to their congeniality, and thus possessed an esoteric 
charm all their own. Given an ancient homestead, far 
from the city's din, with the abounding life of the 



236 Random Recollections 

springtime or the glories of autumn crowning all the 
countryside ; a company of young men and women con- 
genial in taste and temperament, and you have all the 
essentials of a fortnight as replete with joys as it is 
given for mortals to know. 

Algoma is a dear sweet home overlooking the waters 
of the upper James. Here it was my good fortune to 
be one of many such parties which the kindly heart 
and unfailing hospitality of the hostess welcomed to its 
halls. We need not pause to recount the various forms 
of merrymaking which there prevailed. Life in the 
open air, horses and hounds, gun and rod, fields of 
daisies, forests in all their solemn charm, summer even- 
ings under the flood of moonlight or winter nights 
around fires of blazing cones, — these were incidents 
which added zest to the joys of hospitality. A glance 
at the list of guests would reveal to the initiated the 
fact that their personnel had been determined b}' con- 
siderations other than the mere bonne camaraderie of 
casual acquaintanceship. Almost every matron in old 
Virginia is a match-maker, and the sweet woman who 
presided over Algoma seemed always to have several 
such aff^airs on her mind and heart. I recall with 
amused interest how she exercised her prerogatives as 



AtHoine 237 

hostess to arrange that the proper parties should be left 
together at opportune times, and to remind my would- 
be rivals that she could not permit the young lady 
whose colors I hoped to wear to be the object of their 
serious attentions. Many happy homes now attest the 
success of our hostess in this difficult role, and these 
lines might never have been written but for those house- 
parties at Algoma and her kindly interest in my for- 
tunes. 

Thus it was, and after all the happenings of the 
wedding and the bridal tour we at length found our- 
selves seated by the quiet fireside of a new home. No. 
10 North Laurel Street looks out upon the fresh green 
sward and graceful trees of Monroe Park, and because 
of the beauty without and peace within we named the 
home Clear Comfort. I shall always regard it with 
feelings of the warmest interest and affection. Here 
we came at the dawn of our married life, and here in 
the golden days which followed our children were born. 

But now the old house on Shockoe Hill could become 
for me a home, and hither we brought our Household 
Gods. About its hearthstone was now felt the gracious 
presence of wife and mother, while the sweetest music 
of all its past was reechoed in the prattle of little voices 



238 Random Recollections 

and patter of little feet. The old mansion with its air 
of quiet dignity quickens the gentle courtesies of life 
and deepens the reverence for home. As the worshipers 
in some venerable cathedral feel the mystical union be- 
tween all those, past and present, who claim a part in 
its mysteries, so this ancient dwelling links the present 
with the charm of bygone days, and inspires with gen- 
tler ideals all those who cross its threshold. 

But now our narrative must end. Neither memories 
of the past nor fancies of the future can further woo 
my pen. Here I am content to rest. Mind and heart 
greet with gratitude the hour, while every scene and 
incident about me proclaims the lyric name of home. 




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